Ethics and professionalism CPD for health practitioners in Australia [email protected]
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Online course · Australia

Ethics and Ethical Standards for Osteopaths

Values, Ethical Reasoning and Hard Decisions Under the Osteopathy Board's Code

  • About 2 hours
  • 15 scenario questions
  • Reflective account
  • Certificate of completion
  • Online, self-paced

About this course

Osteopathy relies on touch, trust and long courses of care, often where the evidence is mixed and the patient is hoping for more than you can promise. This course helps osteopaths reason through those situations openly and with integrity.

The course explains why ethics is more than compliance, how the Code's principles work as professional values, how osteopathic philosophy fits alongside them, and a decision-making model you can use between patients.

Honesty lessons cover truthfulness when the evidence is mixed, contextual effects and expectation, requests for treatment you think will not help, and knowing when to stop. Autonomy lessons cover respecting a patient's choice to accept risk, refusal and the patient who says 'just do it', supported decision-making, and young people with parents and coaches involved. A section on touch, trust and power examines the ethics of touch, trauma and disclosure, attraction and friendship, and gifts in small communities.

The final sections deal with fairness and commercial ethics, conflicts of interest, moral distress under business pressure, public health and personal belief, confidentiality and divided loyalties, concerns about colleagues and owning a mistake. A reflective account completes the course.

What you will learn

  • Tell law, regulatory standards and ethics apart, and use the shared Code's principles as a guide
  • Apply a decision model between patients and record the reasoning behind a choice
  • Be honest about mixed evidence, natural history and prognosis
  • Decline treatment that will not help and recognise when ongoing care should end
  • Balance a patient's choice to accept risk against the influence of family, parents and coaches
  • Understand the ethics of touch and respond safely if a patient discloses trauma during treatment
  • Keep personal feelings, gifts and dual relationships from harming patients
  • Reason through confidentiality, loyalty to third parties and concerns about colleagues

Who this course is for

  • Osteopaths in private and multidisciplinary practice
  • Osteopaths working with sporting clubs, employers or insurers
  • Osteopaths treating children, adolescents and older patients
  • Clinic owners and principals
  • Recent graduates and their supervisors

How the course works

  1. After checkout the course is added to My Courses in your account, so you can start straight away on any device with a modern browser.

  2. Move through 7 sections (26 lessons in total) in your own time; lessons open in sequence and the player remembers where you stopped on that device.

  3. Each section ends with key points and prompts for reflection. Your notes can be downloaded as a Word course pack or printed for your portfolio.

  4. Sit the 15-question assessment at the end. Score 80% or more (12 of 15) to pass; answer options are reshuffled if you retake.

  5. Complete the reflective account and feedback to finish. Your certificate of completion shows the estimated learning time (about 2 hours), and you record the time you actually spend in your CPD log.

Course content

8 sections · About 2 hours · 15-question final assessment

1Ethical Foundations for Osteopathic Practice4 lessons
  • Ethics Is More Than Compliance
  • The Code's Principles as Professional Values
  • Osteopathic Philosophy and Professional Values
  • A Decision-Making Model You Can Use Between Patients
2Honesty, Evidence and Uncertainty4 lessons
  • Truthfulness When the Evidence Is Mixed
  • Contextual Effects, Expectation and the Ethics of Influence
  • When a Patient Wants Treatment You Think Will Not Help
  • Prognosis, Maintenance Care and Knowing When to Stop
3Autonomy, Risk and Shared Decisions4 lessons
  • Respecting a Patient's Choice to Accept Risk
  • Refusal, Withdrawal and the Patient Who Says 'Just Do It'
  • Supported Decision-Making and the Influence of Others
  • Young People, Parents, Coaches and Competing Interests
4Touch, Trust and Power4 lessons
  • The Ethics of Touch
  • Trauma, Disclosure and Ethical Response
  • Attraction, Friendship and Personal Feelings
  • Gifts, Favours and Small-Community Practice
5Justice, Fairness and Commercial Ethics4 lessons
  • Fair Access and Who Gets Your Time
  • Conflicts of Interest in Everyday Clinic Life
  • Moral Distress Under Business Pressure
  • Public Health, Personal Beliefs and Professional Voice
6Confidentiality and Loyalty Dilemmas3 lessons
  • Confidentiality as an Ethical Commitment
  • Divided Loyalties: Clubs, Employers and Insurers
  • When Safety Outweighs Confidentiality
7Ethical Courage: Colleagues, Mistakes and Integrity3 lessons
  • Concerns About a Colleague
  • Owning a Mistake
  • Sustaining Your Ethical Practice
8Conclusion, Final Assessment and Reflection4 lessons
  • Conclusion and key points
  • References and quick-reference guide
  • Final assessment (15 questions, 80% pass mark)
  • Your reflective account

Assessment and certificate

  • Certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time (about 2 hours); record the time you actually spend.
  • A written reflective account you can keep with your CPD records.

Questions about this course

What if a patient keeps booking but is not improving?

The course covers prognosis, maintenance care and knowing when to stop, including how to have an honest conversation and document it.

Is the ethics of touch covered in detail?

Yes. A full section looks at touch, trust and power, including how to respond if a patient discloses trauma during treatment.

Does it cover working for sporting clubs?

Yes. Lessons on divided loyalties look at clubs, employers and insurers, and how to protect confidentiality and the patient's interests.

How is this different from the osteopathy professionalism course?

This course is about ethical reasoning; the professionalism course covers standards, scope, CPD, records, insurance and accountability.

What evidence do I get when I finish?

You receive a certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time, and you can download a course pack holding your learning record, a revision sheet and your own reflections. Your CPD log should show the time you actually spend.

Does completing the course satisfy a condition or undertaking?

Not automatically. Where a Board has set education as a condition or undertaking, the course usually has to be nominated and accepted first, so check with Ahpra or the Board, and your legal adviser or defence organisation, before you enrol.

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