The Continuous Professional Development Support Scheme (CPD-SS) is an educational programme open to all NCHDs (non consultant hospital doctors) working in the public health service who are: 

• not enrolled in an intern training programme or on a postgraduate specialist training programme such as BST (Basic Specialist Training) or HST (Higher Specialist Training) 
• working in the public health service and hold a 2010 NCHD contract within the HSE (Health Service Executive) 
• on the General or Supervised Division of the Register of Medical Practitioners maintained by the Medical Council 
• enrolled on a Professional Competence Scheme applicable to your specialty 
• registered and have paid your Professional Competence Scheme subscription 

• Learners have two opportunities to apply for CPD-SS each year. The first application process runs from mid July to September each year. Successful applicants can expect to begin courses from October.  
• A second application is open in December each year and closes end of January. Successful applicants can expect to begin courses from February.

• Successful applicants will meet all the criteria listed above. 
• You must have registered and have paid your Professional Competence Scheme subscription by time of application 
• If you successfully apply for CPD-SS in September, YOU DO NOT NEED TO APPLY AGAIN IN DECEMBER. Those who attempt to apply again will have their applications rejected. 
• If you have any questions regarding an unsuccessful application, please contact cpdss@rcpi.ie 

• CPD-SS participants can use their vouchers on to enroll in our NCHD courses. They are also valid for all online courses.  
• Should you wish to use your vouchers for a course not indicated above OR any of our RCPI events, please contact cpdss@rcpi.ie 

Once you have successfully applied for CPD-SS you will be sent your voucher code via email. If you forget or are unsure what your voucher code is, please contact cpdss@rcpi.ie 

• CPD-SS vouchers are not valid for all courses. Please ensure you are using your voucher on our NCHD courses or any of our online courses 
• When entering your voucher code, please ensure there is no space left at the end. 
• You cannot partially pay for a course using your CPD-SS voucher. Please ensure you have sufficient credits remaining. To find out how many credits you have remaining on your voucher, please contact cpdss@rcpi.ie 
• For any questions or queries related to your CPD-SS voucher, please contact cpdss@rcpi.ie 

• CPD-SS participants can enroll in courses where their vouchers are not valid. However, the learner must pay the associate fee. 
• Should a CPD-SS participant wish to enroll in course not covered by their voucher, they should contact cpdss@rcpi.ie to confirm their vouchers are not valid. 

• NCHD courses cover the exact same content and carry the same CPD (Continuous Professional Development) value as the BST/HST versions.  
• NCHD courses are run with CPD-SS participants in mind to allow them to access mandatory courses despite not being on a specialist training programme.