2006: The Nepal Dental Association (NDA), under the leadership of its then President, proposed an NDA Fellowship incorporating CPD credit requirements. The proposal was presented at the NDA General Assembly, reflecting an early effort to link continuing professional learning with professional recognition.

2008: The proposal was approved, marking an early institutional step toward structured CPD within the dental profession. Implementation was subsequently delayed by resource constraints and the absence of an appropriate national regulatory and administrative framework.

A Technical Advisory Group comprising eight senior health professionals began meeting to explore ways to improve CPD for Nepalese doctors, particularly those working in rural and remote areas.

The group included senior representatives from the Ministry of Health, national academic institutions, professional societies, and the World Health Organization (WHO). Its initial objective was to identify approaches that could make continuing professional education more accessible to doctors serving underserved communities.

The Nick Simon Institute (NSI) conducted face-to-face interviews with 213 Nepalese doctors working across 51 of the country's then 75 districts.

The assessment found that participation in CPD was intermittent, with doctors often attending conferences when opportunities arose to travel to urban centers. Although many respondents had access to computers and the internet, these technologies were not widely used for professional learning.

Doctors expressed a preference for practical, skills-based CPD, particularly in emergency care, as well as mentorship to support their learning.

The findings highlighted the potential of distance-based CME to improve access to continuing education for healthcare professionals in rural and remote areas.

NSI, in collaboration with World CME, conducted the Distance CME Experiment and subsequently developed the Nepal CME interactive CD program.

These initiatives explored technology-assisted delivery of continuing medical education and demonstrated an alternative to exclusive reliance on face-to-face educational events.

Dental CPD accreditation: The Vedic Institute of Smile Aesthetics (VISA) began providing American Dental Association (ADA)-verified CPD credits through collaboration with Big Sky Seminars, USA. VISA also collaborated with NSI to promote CPD awareness among medical and dental professionals.

VISA and NSI jointly organized the national workshop entitled Building a Continuing Professional Development System in the Health Sector of Nepal, on February 18^th,

The workshop brought together medical and dental professionals, academics, senior clinicians, and representatives of the NMC to review international approaches and consider the development of a coordinated national CPD system.

Key recommendations included:

• Establishing the NMC as the lead institution for national CPD for doctors.
• Forming a voluntary medical and dental task group to develop the national framework.
• Establishing dedicated institutional and administrative mechanisms within the NMC.
• Continuing technical support and collaboration with NSI.

The workshop marked a transition from predominantly independent CME/CDE activities toward formal national discussion of CPD policy and implementation.

Following the national workshop, the NMC advanced work on a national CPD framework. An initiation committee was established under the leadership of the NMC Vice President with volunteer support from multiple professional from medical and dental, building on the earlier committee's work.

Over the following period, the committee undertook consultations and developed recommendations for a national system. These efforts culminated in a stakeholder meeting in late 2013, chaired by the Health Secretary. The recommendations received endorsement from the Ministry of Health.

The proposed framework included:

• Recognition of the NMC as the statutory authority for national CPD for doctors.
• Establishment of an executive working group to formulate policy and administer the system.
• Creation of a dedicated CPD Unit with appropriate administrative support.
• Recognition of lectures, workshops, distance learning, and international educational activities as CPD modalities.
• A requirement of 100 CPD credits over five years for medical license renewal.
• Mandatory learning in designated core areas: communication and ethics, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, infection control, and rational drug use.
• A web-based portal to support registration, accreditation, documentation, and credit tracking.

December 2013: The Nepal Medical Council (NMC) officially proposed requiring medical practitioners to obtain 100 CPD credits over five years for license renewal. Although not yet implemented, this proposal marked an important milestone in linking continuing professional development with professional licensing requirements.

From 2014 onward, the NMA began accrediting CPD activities on a voluntary basis and approved more than 400 CPD events nationwide.

Professional associations, academic institutions, and specialist societies continued to support conferences, seminars, workshops, and scientific meetings. At the same time, work progressed on the practical arrangements needed to support a more systematic national CPD framework.

Following the Ministry of Health's directive, the NMC appointed a subgroup of its CPD Committee, supported by adviser-consultants representing medicine and dentistry.

The subgroup worked on developing a CPD database and operating application, as well as preparing the terms of reference for the proposed CPD Unit.

Additional efforts included:

• Developing national CPD guidelines and standardized learning materials.
• Establishing accreditation and documentation procedures.
• Formulating practical implementation strategies.
• Developing Training-of-Trainers (TOT) programs.
• Engaging academic institutions and clinicians in the preparation of structured CPD materials.

This period represented parallel progress in educational delivery and institutional capacity-building. However, the transition from policy development to full-scale implementation remained a challenge.

Under subsequent NMC leadership, the national CPD process regained momentum. The Council formally established a CPD Unit and prepared the database application for use by doctors.

A phased implementation approach was adopted. In the initial phase, doctors would participate voluntarily, with CPD credits recorded in their individual database accounts. A subsequent phase was intended to introduce specified CPD credit requirements for medical license renewal.

The approach was designed to familiarize doctors with the system before moving toward more formal regulatory implementation.

This period marked an important step in developing the administrative and digital infrastructure for national CPD, culminating in the official launch of the platform on 31 May 2019. However, the transition to a fully implemented mandatory CPD system remained an ongoing policy and administrative priority.

Building on earlier initiatives, the Punyaarjan Foundation undertook consultations, meetings, and strategic engagements between 2022 and May, 2026, with healthcare professionals and relevant stakeholders to advance a coordinated national approach to online CPD in health care.

A central concept emerging from these engagements was Knowledge Philanthropy—the principle that professional knowledge, expertise, educational resources, and experience should be shared responsibly for the collective advancement of healthcare.

This concept informed a vision of accessible, high-quality online CPD for healthcare professionals throughout Nepal, irrespective of geographical location, institutional affiliation, or financial circumstances.

The consultations identified several national priorities:

• Advocacy to making CPD mandatory across healthcare professions.
• Linking CPD requirements with professional license renewal.
• Establishing a common national digital platform for online CPD.
• Promoting competency-based professional development, research, and innovation.
• Strengthening collaboration among regulatory bodies, professional councils, academic institutions, professional organizations, educators, researchers, and technology partners.
• Promoting lifelong learning, professional competence, ethical practice, and quality healthcare.

These engagements culminated in a proposal to establish a dedicated not-for-profit institution for online CPD in Nepal, with a dual mandate: contributing to national CPD policy and regulatory development while providing an accessible platform for continuing professional learning and knowledge sharing.

CPD Nepal was formally established on 31 July 2026 as a dedicated not-for-profit institution to advance Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in Nepal.

The institution was conceived as a collaborative platform bringing together healthcare professionals, regulatory bodies, professional councils, academic institutions, professional organizations, educators, researchers, and technology partners. Its mandate is to advance lifelong learning, professional competence, ethical practice, research, innovation, and patient-centered healthcare through structured CPD programs, stakeholder collaboration, research initiatives, and accessible digital learning platforms guided by Knowledge Philanthropy.

CPD Nepal represents a new institutional phase in the continuing development of CPD in Nepali Health care. It builds on decades of initiatives undertaken by professional associations, regulatory institutions, academic groups, and development partners rather than marking the beginning of CPD in the country.

The development of CPD in Nepal reflects the collective dedication of generations of healthcare professionals, institutions, and stakeholders committed to lifelong learning. Building on this legacy, the priority now is to establish a coordinated national CPD framework, with mandatory CPD linked to professional license renewal across healthcare professions. This requires appropriate regulation, transparent accreditation, reliable credit tracking, equitable learning opportunities, and sustained collaboration. Guided by Knowledge Philanthropy, CPD Nepal aims to advance lifelong learning, strengthen professional competence, and contribute to quality healthcare for all.