Continuing Education and Maintenance of Membership
Requirements
Section 5.1 of the Bylaws pursuant to the Medical Profession Act, 1981 describes the Standards for Continuing Education and Maintenance of Membership. This bylaw shall apply to all physicians who have been granted a licence to practise as a regular member - active, as a provisional member - active, as a special member, or a senior life member - active, whether such physician is, or is not, a certificant, member or fellow of either CFPC or RCPSC.
Definitions:
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the term "Mainpro" means the program of Continuing Medical Education which the College of Family Physicians of Canada may require from time to time of its members as a condition of maintaining certification with the College of Family Physicians of Canada. The program, at the date of implementation of the bylaw, is called "Mainpro". If the name or requirements of that program shall change, the requirements of the bylaw will continue to apply to physicians licensed in Saskatchewan, despite a change in the name or requirements.
- the term "Maintenance of Certification" means the program of Continuing Medical Education which the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada may require from time to time of its members as a condition of maintaining fellowship with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The program, at the date of the bylaw, is called "Maintenance of Certification". If the name or requirements of that program shall change, the requirements of the bylaw will continue to apply to physicians licensed in Saskatchewan, despite a change in the name or requirements.
Licence Expiry
All licences to practice as a regular member - active, as a provisional member - active, as a special member, or a senior life member - active expire on November 30, next following the date of issuance of the licence.
Requirements for Revalidation
In order to renew a licence to practise as a regular member - active, as a provisional member - active, as a special member, or a senior life member - active, the physician shall:
- provide a statement to the College of Physicians and Surgeons that the physician is enrolled in either Mainpro or Maintenance of Certification;
- if the physician is enrolled in Mainpro, provide a statement of the date established by CFPC for the physician to meet the requirements of Mainpro;
- if a physician has reached the date established by CFPC for the physician to meet the requirements of Mainpro, or the date established by RCPSC for the physician to meet the requirements of Maintenance of Certification, provide proof to the satisfaction of the Registrar that the physician has met the requirements of Mainpro or Maintenance of Certification, as the case may be;
- an original certificate from CFPC or RCPSC, as the case may be, that the physician has met the requirements of Mainpro or Maintenance of Certification shall be acceptable proof that the physician has met the requirements.
Penalties for Failure to Comply with Revalidation Requirements
The Registrar's Office will administer fees or penalties to ensure cost recovery from physicians who fail to meet CME requirements and who fail to comply with regulatory bylaw 5.1 Standards for Continuing Education and Maintenance of Membership:
- A physician who fails to enroll in Mainpro or Maintenance of Certification, or who fails to maintain enrollment in Mainpro or Maintenance of Certification as required by regulatory bylaw 5.1, will be required to pay a fee of $500;
- A physician who has failed to enroll in Mainpro or Maintenance of Certification, or who fails to maintain enrollment in Mainpro or Maintenance of Certification as required by regulatory bylaw 5.1 and who is required to comply with any of the conditions in regulatory bylaw 5.1(h) shall, in addition to the $500 fee in paragraph (a), be required to pay a fee of $500;
- A physician who has enrolled in Mainpro or Maintenance of Certification as required by bylaw 5.1, but who has failed to meet the requirements of the program, or has failed to provide the evidence requried by paragraph (d)(Iv) and who is required to comply with any of the conditions in regulatory bylaw 5.1(h), shall be required to pay a fee of $500.
Exemptions
Physicians who wish to apply for an exemption to revalidation requirements must make an application for exemption to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan. Currently exemption may be granted for the following categories of physicians:
- Physicians who limit their practice to surgical assisting;
- Physicians who practice outside of Saskatchewan and do not provide service to Saskatchewan patients;
- Physicians who restrict their practice to only administrative medicine; and
- Physicians who are engaged full time in an approved, formal learning program such as a residency training program or a fellowship.
Applications for exemption are incorporated into the annual on-line registration renewal.
All exemptions are subject to approval by CPSS. Contact the Director of Registration Services, for further details.
General Information About Revalidation
When do I need to enroll in a program?
Physicians who are licensed on a full, provisional or special licence are required to be enrolled in a continuing professional learning program in order to be eligible to renew their registration for the following year.
Physicians who are initially licenced on a full, provisional or special licence should enroll in a program immediately after obtaining their initial licensure. Physicians who revise their category of licensure from educational or temporary to a full, provisional or special licence should enroll in a program immediately after obtaining their new category of licensure.
The revalidation requirement is applicable to both family physicians and other specialists.
At registration renewal time (prior to November 1 each year) physicians will be asked to:
identify the program in which they are enrolled; and
identify the start and end dates of the learning cycle assigned by the program; OR
request an exemption form the revalidation requirement.
Physicians who have completed the learning cycle assigned by their respective program will be asked to provide a Certificate of Completion from the relevant program. See the sections below entitled “When is a certificate required” and “Directions to retrieve a certificate from the website”.
How do I enroll in a program?
Contact the relevant Canadian College and make application to enroll. Please be aware that enrollment requires payment of fees; submission of an application without fees does not confer enrollment in a program.
For family physicians:
You may call the CFPC dedicated hotline at 1-866-224-8104 or call toll free 1-800-387-6197 (ext. 204)
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
2630 Skymark Avenue
Mississauga, ON L4W 5A4
Canada
For other specialists:
You may call the RCPSC Department of Professional Affairs at 1-613-730-6243 or call toll free 1-800-461-9598
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
774 Echo Drive
Ottawa, ON K1S 5N8
Canada
What do I need to do once I am enrolled in a program?
Log into your continuing professional learning account with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the College of Family Physicians of Canada and enter all of your learning activity in your on line continuing professional learning account. Ensure that you meet the program requirements of your specific program.
The College recommends that you enter your credits into our online account as soon as possible after completing the learning activity.
Physicians should be aware that they are required to:
- pay the initial enrollment fee; and
- pay the annual enrollment fee in order to maintain enrollment in their respective program.
If you require assistance, contact the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
At registration renewal time physicians will be asked to:
- identify the program in which they are enrolled; and
- identify the start and end dates of the learning cycle assigned by the program; OR
- request an exemption from the revalidation requirement.
Physicians should be aware that providing inaccurate information during registration renewal may result in charges of unprofessional conduct.
When is a certificate required?
A Certificate of compliance with program requirements is required the year following completion of the learning cycle.
For example, if a physicians’ learning cycle ends in December, 2010 the physician will be asked to produce a certificate of compliance with program requirements at the end of 2011 when renewing registration for 2012. This ensures the physician has ample time to enter all of the learning activities into the online learning account and maximize the number of credits accrued to achieve compliance with the program requirements.
It is the responsibility of the physician to be aware of the credit requirements for the learning program in which he/she is enrolled.
Directions to Retrieve a Certificate:
A. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Website
The College does not accept the credit summary as confirmation of meeting the program requirements; you must provide the certificate from the Royal College that you have met the program requirements. The Royal College provides instructions to obtain the certificate from their website in your account:
- Go to the website: Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
- Select Mainport, then My Reports;
- Select “My MOC Cycle Completion Certificate”
- Click on “Run Report” tab;
- Select the appropriate time period using the drop down arrow;
- Click on “Create Report”
- Click on “Download Report”;
- Click on “Open”.
- When the appropriate report appears, it may be printed or emailed, as appropriate.
B. The College of Family Physicians of Canada
The College does not accept the credit summary as confirmation of meeting the program requirements; you must provide the certificate from the College of Family Physicians of Canada that you have met the program requirements. Instructions to obtain the certificate from their website in your account are as follows:
- Go to the website: College of Family Physicians of Canada
- From the Home page, log into your account;
- Click on "my transcripts" ;and
- Click on "Select the Mainpro cycle” to generate Completion Certificate