Medical podcasts can absolutely count towards your CPD requirements
Provided the content is credible, relevant to your practice, and generates genuine learning. This guide covers the best Australian and international medical podcasts by specialty and career stage, plus a step-by-step guide to logging podcast learning in your CPD Home.
Learning never stops in medicine. Fortunately, finding the time for it doesn't have to be as hard as it sounds.
What if CPD could fit into your daily life?
Imagine you're stuck in traffic, lacing up for a morning run, or folding the laundry after a long shift. What if that time could quietly count towards your CPD requirements?
For Australian doctors juggling patient loads, admin, and a life outside the clinic, finding time for continuing professional development is a constant negotiation. The good news? Your earbuds might be your most underutilised CPD tool.
Medical podcasts have become one of the most accessible, flexible, and genuinely enjoyable ways to keep learning. The best ones are produced by clinicians, for clinicians, covering everything from the latest prescribing guidelines and clinical ethics to burnout, diagnostics, and the culture of medicine. And yes, they can absolutely count towards your CPD.
Do podcasts count as CPD?
At CPD Australia, we recognise that not all learning looks the same, and that's actually a good thing. The most meaningful professional development often happens outside a lecture theatre.
Podcasts can count as CPD, provided the material meets a few straightforward criteria:
- Quality and relevance: Is the content credible, evidence-based, and relevant to your scope of practice?
- Alignment with your goals: Does it connect to your professional development plan or a learning need you've identified?
- Genuine learning: Did you actually learn something that could improve your practice?
If the answer is yes, you're doing CPD. It might not come with a conference certificate, but learning that changes how you think or practise is exactly what CPD is for.
The best medical podcasts for Australian doctors
Here's a curated list covering different specialties, learning styles, and stages of career.
For general learning and Australian context
- MJA Podcasts (Medical Journal of Australia) One of Australia's leading general medical journals brings its research and commentary to audio. Episodes cover health policy, clinical updates, and Australian medical practice, all directly relevant to local practitioners. Excellent for staying across Australian research, guideline changes, and health system developments.
- HealthEd Podcasts Hundreds of episodes spanning virtually every area of healthcare, delivered by clinicians for clinicians. Whether you're a GP, specialist, or somewhere in between, there's almost certainly something here that speaks to your practice. Broad and deep, with content that maps directly to your CPD learning needs.
- Australian Prescriber Podcast The Australian Prescriber journal publishes regular updates on therapeutics and pharmacology, and this podcast works through those articles in accessible, conversational episodes hosted by clinicians who speak with the authors themselves. Highly practical for anyone who prescribes and directly applicable to day-to-day clinical decisions.
- PodMD Peer-to-peer medical education from Australian clinicians, covering a wide range of clinical topics in an accessible format. Available on demand and strong for clinical updates across multiple specialties.
For GPs and primary care
- The Good GP An education podcast built specifically for busy GPs and those with an interest in general practice. Short, focused episodes that respect your time and get to the clinical point quickly. Designed with GP CPD needs in mind and ideal for primary care practitioners.
- The GP Show Evidence-based conversations with world-leading clinicians, researchers, and health thinkers. Topics span whole-person care, complex disease, mental health, pain, women's and men's health, nutrition, and medical education. Thorough, nuanced, and consistently high quality. Excellent for GPs seeking depth across a broad clinical scope.
For Program Level Requirements (CAPE Activities)
- Pomegranate Health (Royal Australasian College of Physicians) A thoughtful podcast about the culture of medicine. Clinicians, researchers, and advocates discuss professional practice, clinical judgement, diagnostic bias, ethics, communication, and equity in health systems. Strong for professionalism and ethics CPD, and for doctors interested in improving systems-level practice.
- The Mind Full Medic Podcast Dr Cheryl Martin explores health, wellbeing, optimal performance, and professional fulfilment with a specific focus on doctors and healthcare workers. A rare podcast that puts the doctor's wellbeing at the centre. Valuable for the reflective practice and self-evaluation components of your CPD.
For specialists and senior doctors
- Aussie Med Ed Podcast Dr Gavin Nimon, an orthopaedic surgeon, interviews experts across medicine with a distinctly Australian approach. Broad-ranging, specialist-level conversations delivered in a relaxed format. Suitable for specialists looking for peer-level professional discussion.
- British Journal of Anaesthesia Education Podcasts (International) For those in anaesthetics and critical care, the BJAE provides regular, free interview podcasts covering the latest research and practice updates in the field. High relevance for anaesthetists and intensivists seeking evidence-based updates.
For junior doctors
- Geeky Medics Podcast (International) Structured, approachable episodes on common clinical situations with practical frameworks. Particularly well-suited to junior doctors building clinical reasoning skills. Great for structured learning around clinical skills and knowledge gaps.
- BMJ Sharp Scratch (International) Aimed at medical students and new doctors, Sharp Scratch tackles the unwritten rules of medicine: the culture, the corridor conversations, the things medical school didn't teach. Hosted by students and junior doctors alongside expert guests. Useful for junior doctors working through professionalism, identity, and early career development.
How to log podcast learning as CPD
Logging podcast learning in your CPD Home is straightforward. Here's how to do it:
- Choose the right category. For CPD Australia members, podcast listening time is logged under Educational Activities, in the activity category of Reading, Viewing and Listening. This is the natural home for any self-directed learning from audio or video content.
- Add reflection time separately. If you pause to think through how something applies to your own practice, or work out what you'd do differently for a patient, that reflection time doesn't sit in the same category as the listening itself. Log it under Reviewing Performance, in the activity category of Self-Evaluation and Reflection.
- Keep a brief record. Note the podcast name, episode title or topic, date, and what you learned or what you'll do differently as a result. A few sentences is enough. Add a screenshot or URL to the evidence section for clear record-keeping.
- Be honest about duration. Log the actual time you spent engaged with the content, including any note-taking or follow-up reading the episode prompted.
One episode can genuinely span more than one CPD category, and it's worth understanding how far that can extend. Say you listen to a podcast episode on blood donation and transfusion medicine. Those listening hours sit under Educational Activities, in the Reading, Viewing and Listening category. If the episode gets you reflecting on your own conversations with patients about transfusions, that reflection time belongs under Reviewing Performance, in the Self-Evaluation and Reflection category. And if you take it a step further and update your clinic's transfusion policy off the back of what you heard, that work sits under Reviewing Performance, in the Review of Work Product category. One podcast episode, three potential CPD entries, each logged correctly.
Tips for getting the most out of medical podcasts
Take notes as you go. Even a short voice memo or a quick note in your reminders app helps consolidate learning. The act of capturing an insight makes it far more likely to stick, and gives you something to reference when you log the activity.
Choose podcasts you actually enjoy. This sounds obvious, but it matters. Engagement isn't the enemy of serious learning; it's the engine of it. A podcast you look forward to is one you'll actually finish and come back to.
Apply what you hear. After an episode, ask yourself: is there one thing I'd do differently for a patient this week? That reflection is where real professional growth happens, and it's exactly what CPD is designed to capture.
Build a personal playlist. Not every episode will be relevant to your practice. Most good medical podcasts publish episode lists and show notes, so use these to build a queue that matches your current learning goals rather than listening chronologically.
Stack it with something else. Commuting, exercising, household tasks: these are all natural windows for podcast learning. You're not splitting focus on something critical; you're using time that would otherwise go to waste.
Frequently asked questions
Can I log podcast listening as CPD in Australia?
Yes. Podcast listening can count as CPD provided the content is relevant to your scope of practice, credible, and leads to genuine learning. You don't need a formal certificate. What matters is that you engaged with the material and can reflect on what you learned.
How much CPD can I claim from podcasts?
There's no fixed cap on how much CPD you can log from podcast listening, but your overall CPD plan should be balanced across the required activity categories. CPD Australia can help you understand how self-directed learning fits within your annual requirements.
Do I need to keep evidence of podcast learning?
A brief written record is good practice and recommended. Note the episode name, topic, date, and a few sentences on what you learned or how it might change your practice. A screenshot or URL adds useful supporting evidence.
Are international podcasts valid for Australian CPD?
Yes, provided the content is relevant to your Australian practice and meets the quality and learning criteria. Some international podcasts, particularly those covering clinical skills or evidence-based practice, are highly applicable regardless of where they're produced.
Ready to make your listening count?
Your CPD doesn't have to feel like a burden. With the right approach, it can fit into the rhythm of your day, one episode at a time.
Join CPD Australia and start logging your podcast learning today. Track your educational activities, record your reflections, and stay on top of your annual CPD requirements, all in one place.
