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Accreditation
Prepare and Apply
Accreditation Requirements
Here you will find all of the accreditation requirements, from preparing an eligible program to completing the application package. Preparation should begin at least 3 months in advance. Plan to apply at least 6–8 weeks prior to start date. Refer to the Overview page for important information on eligibility, processing times, application fees and credit types.
Read Documentation
- NEW UBC CPD Ethical Standards 2024 now available: UBC CPD Ethical Standards for Accredited CPD Activities
- NEW Steps for COI Management see UBC CPD Ethical Standards Appendix B
- NEW Non-Compliance Procedure see UBC CPD Ethical Standards Appendix C
- NEW Responsibilities for Accreditation An infographic summarizing the responsibilities for accreditation.
- Recognize the Mainpro+ Quality Criteria, a custom version of educational standards developed by CFPC.
- Check the accreditation UPDATES for the most recent changes.
- Refer to the UBC CPD Planning Guide if you want a more detailed guide.
Application Checklist and Forms
CHECKLIST for a complete application:
The requirements are identical whether submitting either online or by email.
See more detailed descriptions further below under Planning Phases.
Application Form (PDF for email only) | ||
Use fillable PDF OR Apply Online | Download and save fillable PDFs to your computer FIRST before completing, otherwise your responses will be lost! -Application-MOC-Mainpro-2024 (fillable PDF) | |
Signature Documents to submit | ||
Disclosure Forms | -Disclosure form (2024) (pdf) -SPC members have the option to use an online disclosure form, which submits directly to UBC CPD. Link: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d6WjDBVZfnm8lwx | |
Declaration Forms | -Accountable physician declaration form -MOC declaration form -Mainpro+ declaration form | |
Program Materials to submit | ||
Needs Assessment Tools | Eg. previous evaluation summary, survey results, etc. Needs Assessment (sample) | |
Budget | Identify projected revenues/funding from all sources, and general expenses. If internally funded, state org/dept name. Indicate how any surplus or deficit will be handled. See Budget (sample) | |
Program Agenda | Detailed program agenda with start and end times and breaks is needed for accurate credit count. Include learner-centred objectives, brochure, invitation email, links to website, registration. Agenda (sample) | |
Speaker Communications | A copy of the instructions to speakers regarding accreditation standards for which they are responsible in their presentations. Speaker Comms (sample) | |
Evaluation Form | Program evaluation (sample) Speaker evaluation (optional) | |
Certificate | Certificate (sample) | |
Reflective Tool* | Reflective Tool (required only for assessment credits)* | |
Sponsorship Agreement* | Sponsorship Agreement (sample) (required only for programs seeking commercial sponsorship)* |
Apply Here
Apply once your program has been developed and before you begin advertising.
Payment of application fee is due with the application.
UBC CPD offers two methods by which you can apply:
If applying online (recommended) the signed documents and program materials can be uploaded. View the online application form by clicking Apply Online. During completion, the application can be saved and returned to by clicking "save Progress" once, which generates a unique URL for you to bookmark. Once complete, clicking 'Submit" will direct you to the payment page.
OR
If applying via email, complete the appropriate PDF application form, with signed documents and program materials, and send as attachments. NOTE: Download and save fillable PDFs to your computer FIRST before completing, otherwise your responses will be lost!
Planning Phases
Submitting an application is only part of accreditation. You must ensure your program is planned according to accreditation standards.
All accredited CPD activities must adhere to the ethical, educational, and administrative standards throughout the entire program development process, from beginning to end. These standards are embedded into each of the program planning phases, outlined below:
Physician Organization
Only a physician organization may seek accreditation.
A physician organization is a not-for-profit group of health professionals with a formal governance structure, accountable to and serving, among others, its physician members through continuing professional development, provision of healthcare and/or research.
To be eligible for accreditation of CPD programs, a physician organization must exist for at least one year.
Physician organization membership extends beyond receiving a newsletter; it must meet the following membership criteria:
- Membership is comprised of physicians.
- Membership is not solely comprised of the Board of Directors.
- Defined criteria on who is eligible to be a member.
- Defined expectations of members (eg. payment of dues, etc.).
- Membership includes the right to vote on strategic directions and initiatives of the organization as a whole.
The definition of physician organization includes the following:
- Faculties of medicine
- Hospital departments or divisions
- Medical societies
- Medical associations
- Medical academies
- Physician research organizations
- Physician clinics
- Health authority hospital department or medical advisory committee (HAMAC)
- Canadian provincial medical regulatory authorities (MRAs)
This definition does NOT include:
- Healthcare/pharmaceutical industry commercial interests (HPIs)
- Health authority administration offices
- Disease-oriented patient advocacy organizations (e.g. Canadian Diabetes Association)
- Government departments or agencies (e.g. Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada)
- Small number of physicians working together to develop educational programming
Co-development
FOR MOC ONLY
Co-development is the process by which two or more not-for-profit organizations — at least one of which must be the physician organization — prospectively collaborate to develop content. Although some responsibilities may be delegated to the co-developing organization, the physician organization must assume control over all aspects as if they were planning the event independently.
Co-development may or may not include financial support; but for-profit organizations cannot be co-developers.
Scientific Planning Committee (SPC)
Every CPD activity must have a scientific planning committee (SPC), accountable to and overseen by a fiscally responsible physician organization. The SPC is responsible for protecting the CPD learning environment and program content/quality. The SPC must follow the UBC CPD Ethical Standards for all aspects of the CPD activity and ensure that the CPD activity is not used to promote or sell products or services that serve any form of professional or financial interests, including their own.
The SPC must (i) include at least two physicians and (ii) be representative of the target audience. Members must be aware of their responsibilities pertaining to accreditation/certification standards. The SPC must have a chair and an agreed decision-making process to enable it to fulfill its responsibilities.
Disclosures (from each SPC member) and declarations (for specific SPC member roles) need to be signed and submitted with application. See below.
Responsibilities of SPC
- Uphold the UBC CPD Ethical Standards for all aspects of the CPD activity
- Identify the educational needs of the intended target audience
- Develop learning objectives
- Select educational methods
- Select SPC members, speakers, moderators, facilitators and/or authors
- Develop and deliver content
- Evaluate outcomes
- Oversee logistics
- Review disclosures and mitigate conflicts of interest
- Ensure commercial sponsorship support and programming comply with standards
- Declarations
- Disclosures
- Informing others of accreditation standards (speaker letter)
NOTE: Representatives of a healthcare/pharmaceutical industry commercial interest (HPI; see UBC CPD Ethical Standards , Element 3 for definition) cannot be members of the SPC or participate in decisions related to any aspect of the CPD activity.
Declarations
Consult CHECKLIST & Forms to access the appropriate Declaration Forms.
Declarations are required by select SPC members who qualify to take on a formal role for the credit type. A qualifying physician may have more than one SPC role (eg. one could serve as accountable physician and RCSPC member).
Accountable Physician
Required for all programs. The accountable physician is the chair or one member of the SPC representing the physician organization, and as such agrees to assume ultimate responsibility for upholding the accreditation/certification standards and for following the UBC CPD Guidelines for Support in preparing and implementing the CPD activity.
RCPSC Member
Required for MOC credits. One member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) is required to be on the SPC to represent the target audience of specialists. The declaration verifies the RCPSC member of having had substantial input into the program.
UBC FoM Member
Required for Mainpro+ credits. UBC CPD can only certify UBC Activities for Mainpro+ credits. A physician member of the UBC Faculty of Medicine (UBC FoM) is required to be on the SPC to represent UBC FoM. The declaration verifies the UBC FoM member of having had substantial input into the program, which is the minimum requirement for a program to be considered a UBC Activity.
CFPC Member
Required for Mainpro+ credits. One member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), residing in the province of BC, is required to be on the SPC to represent the target audience of BC family physicians.
Disclosures
A conflict of interest (COI) occurs when external interests interfere or appear to interfere with the primary interest - in this case an accredited CPD activity. The global best practice in CPD is for all individuals involved in developing accredited CPD activities to be transparent about their financial relationships through a disclosure process, outlined below.
Disclosures Process
- Collect SPC members' disclosures and include with your accreditation application.
- Collect content contributors' disclosures (presenters, authors, instructional designers, facilitators, moderators, etc.) for your SPC to review. These do not need to be submitted to UBC CPD.
- Communicate disclosures to learners. Once the review concludes that there are no COIs, ensure the remaining relevant financial relationships are disclosed to participants for transparency. See Disclosure-Summary.
How to Review Disclosures
The SPC members are responsible to review each others' disclosures and the disclosures of all content contributors to eliminate unresolvable financial relationships and mitigate relevant financial relationships. A step-by-step review process is available in the UBC CPD Ethical Standards, Element 3.0.
Disclosure Form
See the CHECKLIST & Forms for the disclosure form.
Define Target Audience
For CPD activities to be eligible for accreditation, the PRIMARY target audience must be physicians (specialists, family physicians, or both). Aside from governing the program design and content, identifying the target audience determines which type of credits will be most appropriate. You can look up individual physicians in the provincial regulatory college directory (or either national medical college) to verify what kind of medicine they are certified to practice in BC: https://www.cpsbc.ca/public/registrant-directory
RCPSC Specialists (MOC credits) | CFPC Family Physicians (Mainpro+ credits) |
---|---|
Acute Care Point of Care Ultrasonography (POCUS) Addiction Medicine Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology Adolescent Medicine Adult Cardiac Electrophysiology Adult Echocardiography Adult Hepatology Adult Interventional Cardiology Adult Thrombosis Medicine Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Aerospace Medicine Anatomical Pathology Anesthesiology Brachytherapy Cardiac Surgery Cardiology (adult or pediatrics) Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Child Maltreatment Pediatrics Clinical Immunology & Allergy (adult or pediatrics) Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology Clinician Educator Clinician Investigator Program Colorectal Surgery Critical Care Medicine (adult or pediatrics) Cytopathology Dermatology Developmental Pediatrics Diagnostic Radiology Emergency Medical Services Emergency Medicine Endocrinology & Metabolism (adult or pediatrics) Forensic Pathology Forensic Psychiatry Gastroenterology (adult or pediatrics) General Internal Medicine General Pathology General Surgery General Surgical Oncology Geriatric Medicine Geriatric Psychiatry Gynecologic Oncology Gynecologic Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Hematological Pathology Hematology Hyperbaric Medicine Infectious Diseases (adult or pediatrics) Internal Medicine Interventional Radiology Maternal Fetal Medicine Medical Biochemistry Medical Genetics and Genomics Medical Microbiology Medical Oncology Neonatal Perinatal Medicine Nephrology (adult or pediatrics) Neurology (adult or pediatrics) Neuropathology Neuroradiology Neurosurgery Nuclear Medicine Obstetrics & Gynecology Occupational Medicine Ophthalmology Orthopedic Surgery Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Pain Medicine Palliative Medicine Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Pediatric Emergency Medicine Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Pediatric Radiology Pediatric Surgery Pediatric Urology Pediatrics Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Plastic Surgery Psychiatry Public Health and Preventive Medicine Radiation Oncology Respirology (adult or pediatrics) Rheumatology (adult or pediatrics) Sleep Disorder Medicine Solid Organ Transplantation Sport and Exercise Medicine Surgical Foundations Thoracic Surgery Transfusion Medicine Trauma General Surgery Urology Vascular Surgery Other/General Practice/Health Care Professional Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Canadian Medical Protective Association | Aboriginal health
|
Conduct Needs Assessment
Needs assessment is the process involved in gathering information to identify the learning needs of the target audience. The learning needs are the basis for identifying appropriate learning objectives and the content and format of the educational activity. To identify the learning gap the SPC should describe the target audience, work environment or work activities, and demonstrate a valid professional practice gap from which the educational needs are identified. Identify preferred learning style and current knowledge or skill level, then determine desired knowledge or skill level.
The most useful needs assessments are those where multiple methods are utilized to identify educational needs linked to improved patient care.
To help identify needs, the SPC should ask the following questions:
- How common is the need among our target audience?
- How many different assessment sources indicate this need?
- How significantly will the unfulfilled learning need hinder health care delivery?
- How directly is the need related to actual physician performance?
- How likely is it that a CPD activity will improve practice behaviour?
- Are sufficient resources available to effectively address this topic?
- How receptive will our target audience be to a session on this topic?
NOTE: With the new National Standard released in Jan 2018, needs assessment tools are required to be submitted with an application (examples include past evaluations, focus group questionnaires etc.).
See the CHECKLIST & Forms for a sample needs assessment.
Perceived and Unperceived Needs
Financial Accountability
The physician organization must have overall accountability for the finances of the CPD activity.
Accredited activities should aim to be financially self-sustaining, and should not be profit-generating. Surplus funds generated from a recurring activity should be earmarked for the planning, development, or delivery of subsequent activities of a recurring nature. Surplus funds from a single, non-recurring event should be returned to the physician organization (not an individual) and be used to support continuing education activities in the organization.
Create a Budget
Identify all sources of funding/revenue and expenses directly on the budget, even if internally funded. Indicate how any surplus or deficit will be handled. A budget with all projected revenues/funding from all sources, and general expenses, is to be submitted with the application package.
See the CHECKLIST & Forms for a sample budget.
Sponsorship
If you are planning to obtain sponsorship, please follow the UBC CPD Ethical Standards for Accredited CPD Activities 2024, Element 4. Remember that commercial sponsorship requires that participants be charged registration fees.
Only the UBC CPD-approved sponsorship opportunities may be offered. The terms, conditions and purposes by which commercial sponsorship is provided must be documented in a written agreement that is signed by the CPD provider organization and for-profit sponsors. The sponsorship agreement reflects the sponsorship request/prospectus.
See CHECKLIST & Forms for: Sponsorship Agreement
Sponsorship
Choose Learning Format
UBC CPD can provide credits for either group learning or assessment programs.
Determine which learning format is the most appropriate for your program: Group learning focuses on interactivity for the learner. Assessment provides the learner with individualized feedback on their performance/knowledge. A program may have some elements of each, but you need to decide which one is the best fit overall for the learning gaps identified in your needs assessment.
Group Learning Credits
For specialists and family physicians
MOC Section 1 and Mainpro+ Group Learning credits
At least 25% of the total education time must be allocated for interactive learning which allows participants to interact with the group. Examples: Conferences, webinars, workshops, seminar series, etc.
- Synchronous (Live, in-person or virtual)
Program provides learners with opportunity to interact with instructors, each other, and materials in real-time same as if in-person - Asynchronous
Learners still have opportunity to interact with instructors, each other, and materials, but not necessarily in real time. Program must provide asynchronous interactive opportunity for learners, such as a monitored, facilitated discussion board that closes after limited time.
Assessment Credits
For specialists
MOC Section 3 Knowledge Assessment credits (SAP)
Participants demonstrate knowledge, record their responses (eg. online module with quiz, etc.). Program provides learner with individualized feedback on knowledge via:
- Correct and incorrect answers, plus explanations of why they are correct/incorrect, and
- A scored assessment, and
- Suggested further resources for more information
MOC Section 3 Performance Assessment credits (SIM)
Participants are observed demonstrating performance (eg. skills demo, scenarios, etc.). Program provides learner with individualized feedback on performance via:
- List of skills achieved/not achieved (eg. skills checklist), and
- Reflective Tool: used for self-reflection and development of action plan
For family physicians
Mainpro+ Assessment credits
- Program provides learner with individualized feedback on knowledge/performance via one or the other of the above routes (or similar), and
- Instructs learners to review and reflect on their own practice data relative to previously established standards. Best for data-centred CPD activities verifiable against physician EMR data. TIP: Can use Reflective Tool
See the CHECKLIST & Forms for a sample reflective tool
Create Learning Objectives
Learning objectives that address identified needs must be created for the overall event and for individual sessions, and be available to participants. A learner-centered objective is specific, short-range, and relatively concrete. It describes what a learner will be able to do differently afterward (what learner behaviour will change).
Learner Centered Objectives
The change in behaviour is characterized by the use of an action verb. Crystalize the intent of your sessions by reviewing the list of action verbs.
“What will the learner be able to DO once learning has occurred?”
Eg:
Identify the inflammatory markers in AMD.
Recognize the predictors of diabetic retinopathy.
Describe the process of fluid detection by OCT.
Appraise difficult cases presented by members.
TIP: Avoid the use of vague verbs such as understand, know, appreciate, familiarize, gain knowledge of, grasp, be aware of, comprehend, appreciate, study, become acquainted with or learn about.
CanMEDS/CanMEDS-FM
The CanMEDS framework consists of seven specific competencies that all physicians need to practice medicine, regardless of practice type, location, or populations served. A skilled physician is consistently working on all of them. Historically, CanMEDS stood for the Canadian Medical Education Directives for Specialists, but CanMEDS-FM was later incorporated to include family physicians too.
The CanMEDS/CanMEDS-FM competencies translate directly to physicians' roles in practice. Accredited CPD activities must address at least one of the seven roles by tying them to the learning objectives:
ROLE | Description | |
---|---|---|
Medical Expert/ ExpertFM | Medical Expertise | As Experts, physicians integrate all of the roles, applying medical knowledge, clinical skills, and professional attitudes in their provision of patient-centered care. Central physician role in framework. |
Communicator | Communicating with Patients | As Communicators, physicians effectively facilitate the doctor-patient relationship and the dynamic exchanges that occur before, during, and after the medical encounter. |
Collaborator | Collaborating with Colleagues | As Collaborators, physicians effectively work within a healthcare team to achieve optimal patient care. |
Leader/ManagerFM | Coordinating Team Care | As Managers, physicians are integral participants in healthcare organizations, organizing sustainable practices, making decisions about allocating resources, and contributing to the effectiveness of the healthcare system. |
Health Advocate | Advocating for Improved Care | As Health Advocates, physicians responsibly use their expertise and influence to advance the health and well-being of individual patients, communities, and populations. |
Scholar | Contributing to Medical Academic Knowledge Domain | As Scholars, physicians demonstrate a lifelong commitment to reflective learning, as well as the creation, dissemination, application and translation of medical knowledge. |
Professional | Accountability and Ethical Practice | As Professionals, physicians are committed to the health and well-being of individuals and society through ethical practice, profession-led regulation, and high personal standards of behaviour. |
Develop Content
Design your CPD learning activity to address the professional practice gaps identified by the needs assessment.
Create a detailed program with an agenda of topics, speakers, start and end times, question and answer/discussion periods, breaks, etc.
- Include learner-centred objectives.
- Count credit hours by totaling the educational hours and subtracting the breaks.
- Relay the accreditation standards to all those developing content ("speaker communications"): Consult CHECKLIST & Forms for template
Non-Compliance Procedures
The SPC must identify and address instances of non-compliance with the UBC CPD Ethical Standard 2024. The SPC must have a procedure for addressing non-compliance; where no other procedure exists, the UBC CPD Non-Compliance Procedures (see Appendix C) may be used. The SPC must inform UBC CPD should any instances of non-compliance arise.
Speaker Letter
Inform Content contributors of Accreditation standards
The SPC must inform content contributors (e.g. presenters, authors, instructional designers, facilitators, moderators, etc.) of the requirements to:
- develop content and learning objectives based on the identified needs of the target audience [note: SPC should share identified needs with content contributors]
- develop learning objectives that are learner-centred
- create content and materials that provide (where applicable) a balanced view for therapeutic options related to the content area and reflect the current scientific literature
- describe therapeutic options using generic names (or both generic and trade) and not reflect exclusivity and branding
- declare any off-label use when making therapeutic recommendations for medications that have not received regulatory approval
- make every effort to avoid bias, whether commercial or other
- disclose all financial relationships with commercial and not-for-profit organizations
- presenters must disclose to learners both on slides and verbally
- include references to evidence used to create content
- adhere to time allotment, including time for interactivity such as Q & A
- ensure content and materials are available to the SPC for review prior to being made available to learners
- ensure content and materials meet professional standards and legal requirements, including the protection of privacy, confidentiality and copyright
Consult CHECKLIST & Forms to access the speaker communication (comms) template.
Apply Now
By now your program is ready to be reviewed for CPD credit approval.
Consult the CHECKLIST & Forms to ensure you have all of the required documentation and apply.
Applying via the online portal is recommended.
Deliver Program
Once your program has been approved, you will receive an approval email with your official accreditation/certification statement to be used on certificates, as well as the "Accredited by UBC CPD" logo. This information may also be used for advertising the CPD credits for your learning activity. UBC CPD forwards notification of approval to the appropriate medical college(s) so that physician may claim credits after attending.
Registration
All participants must be able to register and receive a receipt or record of registration, and attendance records are kept by UBC CPD for 6 years.
Certificates
A certificate of participation or written confirmation signed by the chair of the SPC is to be issued to participants for all accredited/certified activities. Physicians must login to their member portal with the Royal College to claim the MOC credits, or the CFPC to claim the Mainpro+ credits.
Anyone may use certificates as proof of participation if they are not physicians. Health professionals such as nurses and midwives especially use these certificates to track their own CPD.
See the CHECKLIST & Forms for: Certificate template.
The certificate must specify the following elements:
- Participant name
- The title of the activity as it appears on the application
- The name/logo of the physician organization responsible for the activity (and co-developer if applicable)
- The date(s) the activity took place
- The location of the activity (i.e. city, prov or virtual base)
- Accreditation/certification statement issued upon approval, including number of CPD credits
- Cert+ session ID (Mainpro+ only)
Evaluate Program
The evaluation requirement is for organizers to provide the opportunity to learners to evaluate the CPD activity.
See the CHECKLIST & Forms for: Evaluation Form and Speaker Evaluation templates.
REQUIRED QUESTIONS
To be included on the evaluation form of an accredited activity:
- Did the program meet the stated learning objectives? (Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree)
- Did you perceive any degree of bias in any part of the program? (Yes No | If yes, please explain: )
- Reflecting on the program content, what impact will this education have on your practice?
(Open text box) - This education offered balanced views of diagnostic tools and/or therapeutic options (Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree) [Required only for clinical content programs only]
- Which CanMEDS Role(s) were addressed during this CPD activity? Check all that apply:
☐ Medical Expert ☐ Communicator ☐ Collaborator ☐ Leader ☐ Health Advocate ☐ Professional ☐ Scholar [Required for MOC programs only]
Recommended questions:
- Can you identify any barriers to incorporating what you learned into your practice? (Open text box)
- Please suggest any topics or speakers you would like to see at future CPD activities. (Open text box)
As of June 2018, these two questions are no longer required on evaluations for Mainpro+ programs:
- This CPD activity content enhanced my knowledge
- Indicate which CanMEDS-FM roles you felt were addressed [Note: the CanMEDS question is required for MOC programs only].
Report Back
The evaluation must include the question: “Did you perceive any degree of bias in any part of the program? Yes/No”. The responses to this question (ie. the number of yes, no and total responses) are to be forwarded to UBC CPD within 3 months of the event, via a brief email.