The College of Physiotherapists of Alberta is obligated under the Health Professions Act to establish a Continuing Competence Program that helps registrants to maintain competence and enhance the provision of professional services. The legislation requires the College to establish the Continuing Competence Program within a Standard of Practice. The program is comprised of competence development and monitoring activities.
Competence development and monitoring activities provide a reflective practice framework for registrants to complete learning activities and record outcomes related to the competence development and monitoring activities as required by the Program Rules.
Required Activities
The College of Physiotherapists of Alberta’s DO. LEARN. GROW. Continuing Competence Program requires registrants to complete competence development and monitoring activities by way of the:
- Self-Selected Activity
- College-Selected Activity
Each registration year, prior to renewing their practice permit, all registrants on the General Register are required to satisfactorily complete one Self-Selected Activity and one College-Selected Activity and its associated record of participation. Satisfactory completion of both activities is a condition for renewal of a practice permit.
Applicants admitted to the General Register after June 1 of the registration year are exempt from having to complete the Self-Selected Activity for that registration year only.
Self-Selected Activity
- Registrants must participate in one Self-Selected Activity annually.
- The Self-Selected activity must achieve significant, meaningful and sustained improvements in the registrant’s personal competence, and either patient care practices or physiotherapy/health-care services.
Must always improve |
1. PERSONAL COMPETENCE via the acquisition of current knowledge or skills which updates and reinforces existing knowledge or skills or supports the development of new competencies. |
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Must improve 2 or 3 |
2. PATIENT CARE PRACTICES as evidenced by tangible results which can be measured (i.e. outcomes, effectiveness, efficiency). OR 3. PHYSIOTHERAPY OR HEALTH-CARE SERVICES as evidenced by tangible or measurable outputs (i.e. products, directives, indicators). |
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3. Registrants must select a Self-Selected Activity from a list of options provided by the College. Registrants may participate in an activity not on the College list provided it meets the criteria for a Self-Selected Activity described in bullet #2.
4. After participating in the Self-Selected Activity, the registrant must complete a Practice Improvement Record on the reporting platform provided by and to the satisfaction of the Registrar which includes, but is not limited to, the following reporting criteria.
- Details of the Self-Selected Activity.
- Reflection on how participation in the Self-Selected Activity improved personal competence, and either patient care practices or physiotherapy/health-care services.
- Resources used for practice improvement (e.g., assessments, audits, references, reports, scales, articles, course notes).
5. A review of registrants’ Practice Improvement Record will be conducted by the College to ensure compliance with the reporting criteria described in bullet #4.
6. The records review is conducted under the direction of the Registrar.
7. A stratified random sampling method is used to identify registrants whose Practice Improvement Record is selected for review each year.
8. If a review of the records is not satisfactory, the Registrar may direct “Actions to be Taken” as outlined in these program rules below.
College-Selected Activity
- Registrants must participate in one College-Selected Activity annually.
- The nature and format of the College-Selected Activity is determined by the College based on the organization’s need to serve the public interest. As such the activity will vary from year-to-year and may include, but not limited: jurisprudence module, knowledge tests, educational modules, self-assessment, or reflection activities.
- Registrants must individually submit their College-Selected Activity using a reporting platform provided by the College, notwithstanding the registrants are encouraged to discuss and work collaboratively on their submission.
- Registrants must satisfactorily complete the College-Selected Activity. Success criteria will vary based on the nature and format of the activity. Success criteria will be communicated to registrants at the time of notification to complete.
- If the completion of this activity is not satisfactory, the Registrar may direct the registrant to undertake any of the actions outlined in these program rules under “Actions to be Taken” below.
Actions to be Taken
If the registrant does not comply with the competence development and monitoring activities or the results are unsatisfactory, the Registrar may:
- Deny annual practice permit renewal
- Refer the registrant to the Complaints Director and/or
- Direct the registrant to undertake one or more of the following:
- successfully complete Continuing Competence Program requirements or professional development activities within a specified time period;
- successfully complete any specified learning activities, examinations, testing, assessment, training, education or counselling to enhance competence in specified areas;
- practice under the supervision of another regulated member;
- limit their practice to specified procedures or practice settings;
- refrain from supervising persons engaged in the practice of physiotherapy;
- demonstrate or provide evidence of competence gained in a specific area.
If the registrant, in the opinion of the Registrar, has intentionally provided false or misleading information the Health Professions Act requires the Registrar to make a referral to the Complaints Director.
Deferral
- Registrants requesting a deferral from either the Self-Selected Activity and/or the College-Selected Activity must provide their request in writing to the Registrar and include evidence to support their request.
- The Registrar must, in writing, advise the registrant of their decision as to whether the deferral as requested by the registrant has been granted, with or without conditions as the Registrar may deem necessary.
Reinstatement
- Registrants who apply for their registration to be reinstated on the General Register are required to demonstrate they completed the College-Selected and/or Self-Selected activities during the last year they were last registered before their registration will be reinstated.
- If the registrant cannot demonstrate they completed the activity, the Registrar may direct the registrant to undertake any of the actions outlined in these program rules under “Actions to be Taken”.
