MLT Board Continuous Professional Development Scheme

Healthcare professions, such as doctors, dentists, nurses, and physiotherapists, have already set up CPD schemes of their own for members. Some of them are mandatory at the beginning, while others are voluntary for the time being but they will become mandatory ultimately.

The main purpose of the CPD scheme is to encourage professionals to commit to a life-long continuous professional learning process through participation in education and training activities. Such continuous learning activities will allow our professionals to keep up the pace with the rapid changes in innovated biomedical technologies, hence they are then more competent in providing high quality services to the general public to meet increasing demand for good quality in this the multi-disciplinary healthcare environment.

The Medical Laboratory Technologists Board of Hong Kong, being a statutory body for the regulation of the MLT profession in Hong Kong, is planning to launch its own voluntary CPD scheme to fulfil the aforesaid spirit in the near future.

The voluntary scheme will ultimately become mandatory, the professionals will then be required to fulfil the CPD requirements before the practicing certificate could be renewed. Tentatively all Part I, II & III MLTs have to pursue adequate credit points - 15, 12 and 5 per year respectively, through accredited CPD programmes/activities. Initially, the scheme is operated in a 3-year cycle and the cycle for practicing certificate renewal will also be synchronized to a 3-year cycle.

Information forums and consultation on this issue will be launched in the middle of this year followed by accreditation of the programme/activity providers. The scheme will actually start at the middle of 2003. Initially the scheme is voluntary and in a 1-year cycle. After the amendment of the Ordinance and its by-laws, the scheme will become mandatory and in a 3-year cycle.