Filling Out the Application ‑ General Information

PART 1:   PROGRAM INFORMATION

Title of your event/program:  Give the full title of your event/program -- please don’t use acronyms
[NOTE: please use this full title in all e-mail communications concerning your program/event – we deal with many of these simultaneously and this is how we know who is communicating about what.]

Where it will be held:  We need the city/town and province; not the hotel/resort.  If this is a virtual event, we need the location from which the event will be sent.
[NOTE:  we cannot accredit outside NS/PEI/NB for College of Family Physicians of Canada but can for Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada]

Format:  Please let us know how you will be presenting.

Program Dates:  Actual dates or if multiple sessions, the span – start date to end date
[NOTE:  We cannot accredit for more than 1 year unless this is a Section 3 application]

• If more than one session of the same event, please give the number of sessions; also the date and location of each session.
•  If this is multiple events under one umbrella (i.e. each session has a different name/date/location), we need to have specific information for each session – title of session, location and date. If not immediately available, ASAP when available.

Sponsored by a physician organization:  We can only accredit if this is the case.  Definition of a physician organization (from the Royal College) below – please check with us if you are not sure.

Name and address of program planner:  This is the Chair of the planning committee.  Please give full contact information.

Primary accountable organizer:  Usually the person who is the contact for the event – most often an administrative staff member who has responsibility for organizing/logistics of the event/program.

Contact and address to send assessments:  This is often the same person as the primary accountable organizer.  We need FULL contact information.
[NOTE:  This is the name that will appear on our conference page and with the two Colleges as the contact for this event.   We will do most of our communication with this person.]

Website:  If you have this information for your event, please share it with us; if not, mark N/A

PART 2:  MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

CRITERION 1 – Met the needs of the target audience

Who is the target audience?  We need to know clear details-- if specialists, what specialities; if family physicians; if other interprofessional health care groups. NOTE:  each target audience group should be represented on the planning committee.  We can only accredit for doctors – family physicians and specialists.

Planning Committee – List all members and their relationship to the target audience; clearly indicate the chair.
[NOTE: We will require a Conflict of interest form from each member of this committee with the exception of administrative staff.]

Background sources for content – Indicate what background materials lead to the need for the program/event.

Additional information required – The College of Family Physicians of Canada requires that all accredited events indicate at least one keyword.  Examples include:  area of interest, specific illness/condition, medical specialty involved, etc.

Optional:

Outcomes, gaps, etc. identified by planning committee – in addition to the material above in background sources (see application for examples)

CRITERION 2 – Learning objectives to address identified needs
[NOTE:  Learning objectives must be printed on brochure, handouts.]

What are the learning objectives?  Please list here or indicate where these may be found -- on the brochures, etc. We MUST have at least 3 objectives.  (If parts of the event have different objectives --i.e. each presentation has its own objectives - we need to have these as well as any overarching objectives for the entire event.)

Do objectives express what participants will learn by participating in this event/program?  Yes/No question

How do objectives link to evaluation?  Explain

CanMEDS Roles (a requirement from both Colleges):  MUST be indicated – at least one required
[NOTE: to assist you, we include the link below to Royal College definition of these roles: 
http://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/canmeds/canmeds-framework-e]

CRITERION 3 – At least 25% of educational time devoted to interactive learning strategies

List learning methods that do this.  See application for examples.

CRITERION 4 – Evaluation of learning for practice

A copy of your evaluation tool is required (see application for more details).  This must include the bias question indicated on the application.

Optional:

Evaluation indicates measurement of enhanced participant performance? Yes/No question

Any improved health outcomes? Yes/No question

If NO to both of the above

Any other evaluation tools used? Yes/No Question – if yes, describe

CRITERION 5 – Examples of communication between planning committee and speakers

A sample copy of communication with speakers is a requirement.  In your accreditation package, we include a sample communication-with-speakers letter.  This can be either letter or e-mail form.

PART 3: MEETING ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

This part lists the specific ethical standards required for all continuing professional development events/programs and must have agreement or clarification as required.  The dated signature of the planning committee chair in the DECLARATION section constitutes agreement with the principles listed in this area.

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST

This is included for your use and information since all the documents on this list are required for us to begin accrediting.  If any documents are missing, the application is considered incomplete; we will send you a request for the missing documents.  We may also request clarification of any issues that we have questions about.

DECLARATION

This must be signed by the chair of the planning committee and dated. Electronic signatures are acceptable.

Once a completed application package is received, we will review and assign credit hours as appropriate.  We will send an accreditation letter and invoice to you once accreditation is complete.

We will list your event/program on our Conference webpage. Also, if your event is in NS (and we accredit it before the magazine's deadlines), we will advertise it in DoctorsNS magazine in the month prior to the date of the event/program.

We are happy to answer any questions that you may have concerning the accreditation process (see my contact information at the bottom of this page).

Please check out our accreditation webpage for information.  Also please read your ESSENTIAL INFORMATION letter (specific to FP, SP, or both) and the FAQs [PDF - 185 kB].

Deirdre Harvey
Program Coordinator, Accreditation
Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University

Deirdre.harvey@dal.ca