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Annual Report 2025-2026

Annual Report 2025-2026/Our Work/Continuous Learning/Continuous Learning

Continuous Learning

 

The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland provides essential knowledge and expertise that is clinically relevant, digitally enabled, accessible, and aligned with the evolving needs of healthcare professionals in Ireland and internationally. Our suite of education programmes, CPD events, and professional competence scheme empower doctors and other healthcare professional to evolve throughout their careers as part of an innovative, person-centred health sector.

7,780 participants across 52 CPD events
3 new programmes launched in Obesity Care, Leadership, and Acne therapy
11,628 Brightspace Learners
1,326 New Continuous Professional Development Scheme Enrollments
 

Conferences, Scientific Meetings, Symposia and Webinars

During the 2025–2026 year, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland delivered a substantial programme of educational events, equipping doctors with the tools to provide world-class healthcare. A total of 7,780 health care professionals participated in 27 conferences, scientific meetings and symposia, and 25 webinars. Hybrid options remain favourable among our Membership, with 2,149 attending in-person and 5,631 online across the year. The programme offered approximately 186 CPD credits. When attendance is taken into account, this equates to an estimated 31,291 CPD participant-hours, demonstrating the scale and educational impact of RCPI’s programme. The 2026 launch of our CPD Playback Hub ensures learners can revisit educational content on demand at a time that suits them.

Visit Playback Hub
 

Educational Courses

Our growing portfolio of education courses are developed and delivered by leading clinicians and experts, driving global standards of excellence, supporting lifelong learning, advancing clinical expertise, and enhancing patient care. Key developments in 2025-2026 included Advanced Acne Treatment in Primary Care, a short, practice-focused course in acne therapy and isotretinoin prescribing; the Professional Diploma in Obesity Care, launched on World Obesity Day in March 2026; and the development and piloting of the Professional Diploma in Healthcare Leadership in partnership with Hibernia College. Six RCPI iHeed programmes, consisting of 20 intakes ran in the in the 2025-26 academic year. Overall participation was up with 2,290 learners in 2025-2026 compared with 2,155 the previous year. 14 learners completed the Cancer Genetics and Genomics programme, and 855 doctors enrolled on the RCPI Continuous Professional Development Support Scheme (CPD-SS).

View Course Catalogue
 

Quality Improvement

Our Quality Improvement programmes offer individual and team-based learning opportunities to improve quality and enhance patient care. Through locally delivered projects, participants create practical and scalable improvements within their healthcare settings. This past year, a combined total of 857 health care professionals completed QQI-accredited Postgraduate Certificate in Quality Improvement Leadership in Healthcare, Quality Improvement in Action, and the Quality Improvement Advanced Programme. 10 teams participated in Being Safe Together and 10 teams participated in ALICE - Advancing Leadership for Integrated Care Excellence.

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Professional Competence Scheme

The first year of the new Maintenance of Professional Competence Framework concluded on 30 April 2026. Enrolment numbers continued to increase throughout the year, with the highest number of doctors enrolled to date recorded at the end of the PCS year. This included 1,326 new enrolments during the year. The overall percentages of participants across RCPI’s 11 PC Schemes who met the annual CPD requirements were 76% for those ‘Engaged in the Practice of Medicine’ and 84% for those ‘Not Engaged in the Practice of Medicine’. The individual Scheme compliance rates for the year ranged from 66% to 95% for those ‘Engaged in the Practice of Medicine’ and 50% to 100% for those ‘Not Engaged in the Practice of Medicine’.

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Highlights