Academic certification

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* Note: There will be no February, 2021 intake of nominations as the Academic Certification process is paused as the policy is under revision. There will be an intake of nominations later in 2021. Please email academiccert@royalcollege.ca if you wish to be on the list of contacts to be notified when a date has been announced.

Academic certification assists Canadian university faculties of medicine in the recruitment of international specialists as full-time clinical faculty at the rank of associate or full professor when recruitment of qualified Royal College certificants has been unsuccessful.

Academic certification is considered conditional as it is contingent upon the physician maintaining a full-time academic post at a Canadian university.

Applications for academic certification are accepted in the spring and fall. Applications must be submitted by February 28 for the spring cycle and by September 30^th for the fall cycle. The candidate must be nominated for academic certification and the request must come from the dean of the relevant faculty of medicine, with appropriate supporting documentation and the non-refundable application fee.

Eligibility criteria

At the time of nomination, the nominee must

• Hold the rank of associate professor or higher
• Have held a full-time academic faculty position or equivalent in any jurisdiction (i.e., engaged primarily in academic duties) for at least five years
• Be a specialist and/or subspecialist in a discipline recognized by the Royal College
• Be subject to ongoing evaluation of performance and practice by a supervisor/superior

It should be noted that physicians who are not employed by the university, but by an affiliated organization, can be considered for Academic Certification. Criteria and eligibility will be the same as the route for those employed by a university directly. Examples of affiliated organizations are hospital research institutes or cancer organization research institutes.

For a full description of the program conditions, please refer to the Policy on Academic Certification.

If you are unable to open the above fillable pdf form, please download the printable form which is compatible with most web browsers. Note that both forms are the same, but one is fillable, allowing you to type your information, which you can then print to email or fax to us; and the other is printable, requiring you to handwrite your information. It is only necessary to submit one form.