Entering professional practice: Resources

Entering professional practice is an exciting time for new specialists. The following resources were developed by the Royal College and many other leading health care organizations to help you during this transition.

General information

Transitioning from residency into practice: What do residents need to know? Download this five-minute podcast, featuring Dr. Jocelyn Lockyer, PhD, associate dean of continuing medical education at the universities of Calgary and Alberta.

CMA Joule’s Practice Management Curriculum: Designed to help final year residents learn all the non-clinical skills they need to excel in practice, these free sessions from the Canadian Medical Association are developed and taught by a faculty of practicing physicians.

CPSO’s The Practice Guide: This guide from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is  applicable to all physicians. It provides an overview of the principles of medical practice and a physician’s duties, and lists supplementary resources.

Clinical and professional development resources

Royal College CPD Educator Network: Fourteen continuing professional development (CPD) educators across Canada support Fellows and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program participants in understanding the philosophy, framework and requirements of the MOC Program.

MOC Program Guide: The Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program Guide provides a quick overview of the program, what you need to know, how to use the MAINPORT ePortfolio and how to get started.

List of approved CPD activities: For quick reference, see this list of activities approved under Section 1 (Group Learning) and Section 3 (Assessment) of the Royal College’s MOC Program.

Guide to Enhancing Referrals and Consultations: Developed by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College, this guide provides advice on improving referrals and consultations between physicians.

Safety Competencies framework: Developed by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, this is a practical framework for health care professionals.

Clinical practice guidelines: Access a variety of practice guidelines produced for your specialty by Canadian medical or health organizations, professional societies and others:

CASPR Job Board: This website provides links to all provincial physician job boards across Canada.

drcareers.ca: This website is the CMA’s career centre for physicians.

Billing information

Billing guides:

Managing your practice

CMA website: In the CMA website’s Practice Management section, you’ll find a number of free online resources that provide useful guidance.

Canadian Medical Protective Association: Make use of online resources related to managing risk in practice, documentation and medical records, disclosure, and much more.

Ethical and cultural resources

Health Professionals Working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis consensus guideline: Produced by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, this guide aims to help you provide culturally safe care to aboriginal women and their families.

Physician health and work-life balance

CanMEDS Physician Health Guide: Using real-world situations, this critically acclaimed guide provides practical strategies for pursuing better physician health. Free to Royal College Fellows in PDF format and for sale at a discount rate in print form.

CanMEDS Time Management Guide: A practical resource that helps busy physicians manage their time more effectively.

Canadian Physician Health Network: The CMA website provides links to all provincial and territorial physician health programs.

Physician Litigation Stress Resource Center: Online resources to help physicians and other health care professionals manage the stress associated with medical malpractice litigation.

External links are reviewed prior to publication on this page, but the Royal College is not responsible for the content of external websites. This is because we do not produce or update them, we cannot change them, and their content can be changed without the Royal College’s knowledge or agreement. The inclusion of a link to an external website from www.royalcollege.ca should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or its owners (or their products/services).

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