Becoming a CPD provider: Accreditation process
- Introduction
- How your organization will benefit
- Who is eligible?
- Application details
- Contact
Introduction
The national accreditation system for continuing professional development (CPD) provider organizations in Canada is designed to enable continuous professional development of individual physicians and inter-professional health teams through periodic self-reflection and external peer review.
How your organization will benefit
Provider organizations accredited by the Royal College enjoy national recognition thanks to a rigorous review process that measures their ability to meet the highest standards in administration, education and ethics.
There are a number of reasons your organization may want to become an accredited CPD provider:
- Provider organizations no longer have to apply to other accredited CPD providers to have their activities accredited for Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program credits.
- There is the potential for some revenue generation.
- Provider organizations can ensure that the activities they plan meet the Royal College accreditation standards.
- There is a sense of pride among accredited CPD provider organizations in having been reviewed and approved by the Royal College.
Who is eligible?
Royal College-accredited CPD providers are organizations that have successfully applied to the Royal College and have been assessed against a defined set of accreditation standards.
To apply to become an accredited CPD provider, an organization must
- be a national organization;
- be aligned with a recognized Royal College specialty, sub-specialty, Area of Focused Competence or diploma program; and
- meet the definition of a physician organization.
The Royal College also formally recognizes university offices of continuing medical education that have successfully applied to the Committee on Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME) and have been assessed against a similar defined set of accreditation standards.
Application details
The accreditation process has multiple components, including a self-evaluation questionnaire, a peer-review teleconference, and a final review by the CPD Accreditation Committee. That committee will then determine if the applicant meets the accreditation standards.
The Royal College conducts the reviews on the following schedule:
- Application submissions are accepted twice a year: April 30 and November 30.
- Applications received April 30 are reviewed over the summer; those received November 30 are reviewed over the winter.
- The CPD Accreditation Committee meets in the spring and the fall to adjudicate applications.
There is no application fee and there is no maintenance fee during the accreditation cycle.
Contact
If you are interested in applying to become an accredited CPD provider, please contact cpd-accreditation@royalcollege.ca.
- Tools and resources for accredited CPD providers
- National specialty societies
- University offices of CME
- Limited accredited CPD providers
- CPD provider accreditation standards
- Accredited CPD Provider Innovation Awards
- International accreditation agreements
- National CPD Accreditation Conference
Contact us
CPD Accreditation Coordinator
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
774 Echo Drive
Ottawa ON K1S 5N8
Telephone: 613-730-2587; toll-free 1-800-668-3740, ext. 587
Email: cpd-accreditation@royalcollege.ca
