Apply for Recognition of a New AFC Discipline
The first step to recognizing a new AFC involves the development of an application for discipline recognition. On this page, you will find more information and resources to help you initiate this process.
AFC Application Development
Application Development > Review by the Office of Specialty Education > Application Revision > Submission to Committee on Specialties
How to apply
Applicants should contact cos@royalcollege.ca to inquire about recognition of a new discipline. The following documents are required:
- A letter of intent: a brief letter which explains the educational rationale for pursuing recognition
- The application form: please contact cos@royalcollege.ca to request a copy of the application
- The Competency Training Requirements (CTR) document: as committee members are not necessarily experts in your proposed discipline, this template document should be used to outline the unique competencies of the proposed discipline, over and above the competencies acquired during training in a primary specialty/subspecialty
- Submit support forms from:
- The sponsoring/ associated national specialty society/ies,
- The specialty committees of existing Royal College disciplines, whose competencies overlap with those of the proposed discipline,
- A training site authority, detailing how existing infrastructure will support the implementation of the proposed discipline, should it be approved
- The application fee: $14,000 which may be split between multiple applicants/training sites
Learn more about the AFC category.
Timeline
New applications are reviewed at COS meetings twice a year (fall and spring). There are two opportunities to submit a finalized application:
- September 1, for consideration at the fall COS meeting,
- February 1, for consideration at the spring COS meeting.
We strongly encourage applicants to submit preliminary drafts of their applications and associated documents (such as the CTR) well before deadlines so that the Office of Specialty Education may review them for completeness and offer feedback and guidance as needed.
It typically takes one to two years to refine the application before formal submission for review by the Committee on Specialties (COS).
Additional resources:
- Criteria for discipline recognition
- “Tests” for primary, subspecialty and AFC recognition
- Example documents for existing disciplines: Information by Discipline
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