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Entry-to-Practice
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Federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Health approved a process for managing proposals to change an entry-to-practice credential for medical and health professions in October of 2004. This will contribute to a sufficient supply of medical and health professionals to provide timely and high quality care in Canada. The process will help governments determine whether a proposed change in credentials for entry-to-practice serves the interests of patients and the health care system.
Background
In August of 2003, the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health (CDM) requested that all medical and health professional associations, educators, regulators and accrediting bodies postpone further decisions and actions on any proposed changes in entry-to-practice credentials until the Conference received a report and recommendations from its Advisory Committee on Health Delivery and Human Resources (ACHDHR).
Deputy Ministers of health were concerned that changes to entry-to-practice credentials had sometimes proceeded without full appreciation of the impact on plans for ensuring Canada had a sufficient supply of various medical and health professionals. The implications for labour mobility across provinces and territories, geographical distribution of care providers, changing models of service delivery, compensation costs, and education costs had also often not been fully understood.
In the fall of 2003, the ACHDHR's Working Group conducted a web-based consultation with over 150 relevant stakeholders and used their input in preparing a process to manage proposed changes to entry-to-practice credentials for medical and health professions.
The Process
The process involves the collaboration of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministries of Health and Ministries of Post-Secondary/Advanced Education. The process will result in an analysis being provided to provincial and territorial governments outlining the strengths and weaknesses of a proposed entry-to-practice credential change. It is understood that some provinces and territories have existing mechanisms in place to assess proposed changes. Therefore, provinces and territories will use this analysis to enhance their ability to make informed decisions surrounding entry-to-practice credentials. The province of Quebec will not be participating in this process; however, it will continue to collaborate with this initiative by supporting an ongoing exchange of information between the pan-Canadian system and the Quebec system.
Principles of the Process
The process is comprised of two stages:
Stage One
- A letter of intent from a provincial/territorial/national, educational, regulatory or professional organization is submitted to one Provincial or Territorial Deputy Minister of Health or Deputy Minister of Post-Secondary/Advanced Education to commence the process.
- The receiving province/territory will coordinate a review for each letter of intent and determine whether or not to support a full assessment.
- The applicant will be requested to complete the Assessment Application if it is determined that the proposal will move to stage two for the pan-Canadian process.
- The proposing organization submits the Assessment Application to the province/ territory where it is reviewed for completeness.
- The Assessment Application will be returned to the applicant for further detail should additional information be required.
- Specific information regarding this process can be obtained by contacting your provincial/territorial representative.
Stage Two
- The pan-Canadian Coordinating Committee will utilize a team of experts appropriate for the application to conduct a review and analysis of the proposal.
- Once the analysis is complete, the resulting information will be disseminated to all provincial/territorial jurisdictions.
- The province/territory in which the proposal for change originated will consider the results of the Coordinating Committees analysis in its review of the proposed change.
- The province/territory from which the application originated will then determine how to integrate the analysis into its own decision-making process.
- The provincial/territorial decision about a proposed ETP credential change is communicated to the applicant and the Coordinating Committee.
Flowchart of the Process (PDF Version - 96 K)
