1. What is the Continuing Medical Education (CME) / Primary Care Directory (PCD) requirement for enrolment in VSS and RVP?
For VSS:
For any doctor who newly applies for enrolment in VSS, he/she should either be already listed in PCD or applies for enrolment in PCD at the same time as he/she applies for enrolment in VSS.
For any doctor who is already enrolled in VSS, he/she should maintain listing in PCD. The Programme Management and Vaccination Division would check the list of doctors listed in PCD from time to time. If a VSS doctor fails to maintain listing in PCD, his/her VSS enrolment may be temporarily suspended until he/she fulfils PCD’s requirement and is listed in PCD again.
Enquiry on enrolment in VSS can be directed to VSS Doctors' Line at 2125 2299.
For RVP (Starting from 2021/22 season):
For any doctor who newly applies for enrolment in RVP, he/she should either be already listed in PCD or applies for enrolment in PCD at the same time as he/she applies for enrolment in RVP.
For any doctor who is already enrolled in RVP, he/she should maintain listing in PCD. The Programme Management and Vaccination Division would check the list of doctors listed in PCD from time to time. If a RVP doctor fails to maintain listing in PCD, his/her RVP enrolment may be temporarily suspended until he/she fulfils PCD’s requirement and is listed in PCD again.
Enquiry on enrolment in RVP can be directed to RVP Doctors’ Line at 3975 4472.
2. I did not accumulate sufficient CME points and Primary Healthcare Office (PHO) inactivated my PCD account. Would this affect my VSS enrolment in 2023/24 season?
If you have already enrolled in 2023/24 VSS before your PCD account was inactivated, your VSS enrolment for 2023/24 season will not be affected. However, you are advised to reactivate your PCD account once you have accumulated sufficient CME points.
3. My VSS enrolment is currently suspended as my PCD account has been inactivated. How can I re-enrol in VSS?
Once you have accumulated sufficient CME points, you can apply for reactivation of your PCD account. For more details, please visit the website of the PCD at https://apps.pcdirectory.gov.hk/PCD_SP/EN/ReactivationAccount_Maint_RMP.htm. After you have successfully reactivated your PCD account, you may notify the Programme Management and Vaccination Division to reactivate your VSS enrolment.
To be eligible for enrolment in the PCD, doctors must be:
(a) a registered medical practitioner holding a valid practising certificate issued under the Medical Registration Ordinance (Cap. 161); and (b) committed to the provision of directly accessible, comprehensive, continuing and coordinated person-centred primary care services. For more details, please read the Terms and Conditions, Enrolment Guide and Demonstration of Enrolment Procedure of the PCD at https://apps.pcdirectory.gov.hk/SP/Main/Main.aspx.
5. How many CME points are required to maintain listing in the PCD?
To maintain listing in the PCD,
(a) specialists have to be listed in the Specialist Register of the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) (http://www.mchk.org.hk/english/list_register/specialist_list.php) and comply with the CME requirements relevant to the specialty as may be determined by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine; or (b) non-specialists have to participate in the "CME Programme for Practising Doctors who are not taking CME Programme for Specialists" approved by the MCHK and their CME status is checked against the lists of doctors with valid title of "CME-Certified" (http://www.mchk.org.hk/english/cme/cme_certified_title.html) and the lists of doctors awarded with CME Certificates for any one of the three years preceding the checking (http://www.mchk.org.hk/english/cme/cme_certificates_ended.html) For more details on MCHK CME Programme, please refer to the MCHK website at http://www.mchk.org.hk/english/cme/index.html. Please note that the Guidelines on Credit Point System of the MCHK CME Programme specifies that a maximum of 20 credit points can be awarded for self-study per year.
Primary Healthcare Office (PHO) of the Health Bureau conducts regular checking of CME status of enrolled doctors against relevant lists published on the website of MCHK. Those doctors not fulfilling the maintenance requirements will be subject to inactivation of accounts in the PCD.
For more details, please visit the website of PCD (http://www.pcdirectory.gov.hk). If you have any enquiries on PCD, please contact the PHO at 3576 3658 or email to pho@healthbureau.gov.hk.
6. Why is CME needed for enrolment in VSS and RVP?
It is a policy directive of the Health Bureau to enhance the quality of service provision and to encourage continuous quality improvement through continuing medical education.