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Online course · Australia

Professionalism and Professional Standards for Chinese Medicine Practitioners

Conduct, Scope, Records, CPD and Accountability Under the Chinese Medicine Board's Standards

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

About this course

A Chinese medicine clinic is also a dispensary, a business and often a cross-border supplier, and the Chinese Medicine Board's standards reach into all three. This course shows practitioners how to meet those standards in daily practice.

The course maps the standards that apply to Chinese medicine practitioners, how they are used when concerns arise, and the register and registration types. It then explains what each division authorises in practice, competence within your division, titles, receipts and provider numbers, and working with assistants, students and other professions.

Professional conduct lessons cover employers, owners and independence, telehealth, distance supply and interstate patients, conduct outside practice and seven-day notifications. A section on herb safety systems treats the dispensary as a safety system: supplier governance and herb identity, granules versus raw herbs and recording the real dose, storage, expiry and recalls, dispensing checks and error logs.

Records are covered against the Board's revised guidelines that took effect on 1 January 2026, followed by CPD, recency and insurance for each division, responding to an incident in the clinic, notifications, conditions and practitioner health.

What you will learn

  • Name the Chinese Medicine Board standards, guidelines and capabilities that apply to you
  • Stay within what each division authorises and evidence competence before expanding
  • Issue receipts, quote provider numbers and use titles in ways a health fund or patient could rely on
  • Protect your clinical judgement when an employer, landlord or business partner wants something else
  • Practise safely across telehealth, distance supply and interstate patients
  • Run the dispensary as a traceable safety system, from supplier to recall
  • Keep and audit records to the Board's 2026 standard
  • Meet CPD, recency and insurance requirements for each division you hold

Who this course is for

  • Acupuncturists, Chinese herbal medicine practitioners and dispensers
  • Practitioners who hold registration in two or all three divisions
  • Clinic owners responsible for dispensaries and staff
  • Practitioners supplying herbs by post or offering telehealth
  • Practitioners returning to practice or registering from overseas

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

1The Professional Standards Framework3 lessons
  • Mapping the Standards That Apply to You
  • How Standards Are Used When Concerns Arise
  • Registration Types, the Register and Where You Practise
2Divisions, Scope and Working Within Your Registration4 lessons
  • What Each Division Authorises in Practice
  • Competence Within Your Division
  • Titles, Receipts and Provider Numbers
  • Assistants, Students and Other Professions
3Professional Conduct in the Clinic and the Business4 lessons
  • Everyday Conduct Expectations
  • Employers, Owners and Professional Independence
  • Telehealth, Distance Supply and Interstate Patients
  • Conduct Outside Practice and Seven-Day Notifications
4Herb Safety Systems: The Dispensary as a Safety System4 lessons
  • Supplier Governance and Herb Identity
  • Granules, Raw Herbs and Recording the Real Dose
  • Storage, Security, Expiry and Recalls
  • Dispensing Checks, Error Logs and Learning
5Records That Meet the Standard4 lessons
  • Building a Complete Record Across Divisions
  • Corrections, Late Entries and Electronic Systems
  • Access, Transfer, Retention and Closing a Practice
  • Auditing Your Own Records
6CPD, Recency and Professional Indemnity Insurance4 lessons
  • Meeting the CPD Standard Meaningfully
  • Records of CPD and the Audit
  • Recency of Practice and Returning to Practice
  • Professional Indemnity Insurance That Matches Your Practice
7Accountability When Things Go Wrong3 lessons
  • Responding to an Incident in the Clinic
  • When a Notification Arrives
  • Conditions, Undertakings and Practitioner Health
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

Does the course cover granule dosing?

Yes. A lesson looks at granules versus raw herbs and how to record the dose actually supplied so the record is accurate.

Are the 2026 patient health records guidelines included?

Yes. The course reflects the Chinese Medicine Board's revised guidelines on patient health records, in effect from 1 January 2026.

Can I post herbs to patients interstate?

The course explains the professional and regulatory considerations for telehealth, distance supply and interstate patients, including the state and territory rules you need to check.

How is it different from the Chinese medicine ethics course?

This course covers standards, scope, dispensary systems, records and CPD; the ethics course covers reasoning in hard cases.

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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