Area of Focused Competence (AFC) Committees

Every discipline recognized by the Royal College is overseen by a specialty committee. For AFC disciplines, the committee may be an AFC committee or an AFC subcommittee, depending on the configuration of the discipline and the entry routes identified in the discipline’s standards.

  • An AFC committee is established for AFC disciplines that have no relationship with a parent discipline or a relationship with more than one parent discipline.
  • An AFC subcommittee is established for AFC disciplines that have a relationship with only one parent discipline. As such, it is a subcommittee of the parent discipline’s Royal College specialty committee.

 

 

AFC committee responsibilities

The role of an AFC committee, regardless of whether it is a committee or subcommittee, is to advise the Royal College on discipline-specific content as it relates to the discipline’s standards, credentialing, assessment and accreditation. Some examples of these activities include:

  • Maintaining and revising the discipline’s national standards, ensuring they remain current as the discipline evolves;
  • Participate in the review of accredited AFC training programs as well as applications for accreditation of new training programs;
  • Oversee assessment of candidates from the practice route (PER-AFC);
  • Participating in the regular review of the discipline (every six years) by the Committee on Specialties (COS) and providing input on applications for the recognition of other new disciplines; and
  • Liaise with the national specialty society (NSS) on educational issues and collaborate to ensure the sustained health of the discipline.

Please request the Terms of Reference for AFC committees from the Specialties Unit for more information about their role and responsibilities.

Am I eligible to be a member of an AFC committee?

Interested individuals should possess the following:

  • Be a Royal College Fellow or Diplomate in good standing, and
  • Possess clinical and educational expertise relevant to the discipline.

Please contact the Specialties Unit to express an interest in getting involved with your discipline’s specialty committee.