Certification exams are coming soon—make an impact and become a CFPC examiner today!
Certification exams are coming soon—make an impact and become a CFPC examiner today!

Eligibility and Application

Requirements for residency eligibility

  • Eligibility requirements

    1. Candidates who are or will be eligible to receive their Certificate of Added Competence (CAC) in Emergency Medicine [CCFP(EM)] from the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) must hold Certification in the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CCFP) and must be registered with the office of postgraduate education at the medical school at which they completed their training.
    2. Residents must be recommended to the CFPC by the dean of postgraduate medical education and the postgraduate emergency medicine program director of the department of family medicine.
    3. The program must consist of 36 months of training in family medicine and emergency medicine.
    4. Residents in family medicine/emergency medicine should successfully complete 12 months of additional training in family medicine/emergency medicine. For reasons of health, parental leave, labour actions or other personal reasons, residents may be granted leaves of absence of up to one month during the 12 months and still maintain their eligibility to sit the Examination of Added Competence in Emergency Medicine. The program director, who will ensure that the resident completes all core rotations and achieves the program’s educational objectives, will approve such leaves.
    5. Residents may sit the examination, with the recommendations outlined above, if they have completed at least nine of the 12 months of additional training in family medicine/emergency medicine, or they have no more than three months of training to complete at the time they sit the examination.
    6. Candidates must be Active members of the CFPC at the time they sit the examination.
    7. The postgraduate dean and the postgraduate emergency medicine program director of the department of family medicine must confirm successful completion of the educational requirements for the Certificate of Added Competence (CAC) in Emergency Medicine as defined by the CFPC before a CCFP (EM) will be awarded.

  • Limits on residency eligibility

    Residency eligibility expires after three years or three attempts from the date of completion of training, whichever comes first. If residency eligibility expires, a candidate can reapply to sit the examination as a practice-eligible candidate and must meet all practice-eligible criteria in place at the time of application in order to qualify.

Requirements for practicing physician eligibility

  • Practice-Eligible Candidates

    Please note: these criteria have recently been updated – click here for more information
     
    1. All practice-eligible candidates must hold Certification in the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CCFP) and remain a member in good standing with the CFPC.
    2. The candidate must be engaged in emergency practice in Canada at a rate of 400 hours per year for the four-year period immediately prior to the date of application.
    For purposes of exam eligibility, emergency practice is defined as responsibility in a busy clinical setting attending to acutely ill patients requiring emergent or urgent care. The candidate must have experience with and provide evidence of:
    • Providing care to a broad exposure of all manner of emergencies from the community, including those impacting children and adults
    • Receiving prehospital ambulances from the community
    • Working in a clinical setting that has an affiliation or admitting relationship with an in-patient facility
    • Treating patients with conditions requiring sedation, central venous lines, casting and endotracheal intubation
    3. Candidates must have competencies in procedural skills related to emergency medicine, including cardiac and trauma life support, and have this documented by the director of their hospital emergency department or their medical staff superior.

    The Board of Examinations and Certification (BEC) may provide exceptions to individual candidates who merit special consideration to sit an examination related to life circumstances impacting their ability to obtain 400 hours per year for four years immediately prior to the date of application. For example, an individual who takes a year-long parental leave from practice may have 400 hours per year in four of the last five years which could be considered acceptable. Those wishing to apply for special consideration should do so through [email protected]. Applications must include a detailed explanation, evidence supporting why special consideration is warranted, and how the individual candidate has obtained and maintained the necessary skills to care for emergent and urgent acutely ill patients. All decisions regarding requests for special consideration will be made by the BEC and are final.
     

    Note: Candidates who obtain certification through recognized training and certification outside Canada, must practise the most recent two years of emergency medicine in Canada. They may have obtained the remainder of their four-year practice requirement in the jurisdiction in which they have recognized certification, (i.e., Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, or the United States).

  • Limits on eligibility

    After gaining approval to sit the examination, a candidate maintains practice eligibility for three years or three attempts (whichever comes first). If eligibility expires, a candidate can reapply to sit the examination and will be expected to meet the practice-eligible criteria in place at the time of application. Once ruled eligible, candidates for the Examination of Added Competence in Emergency Medicine must maintain a full, unrestricted licence to practise family/emergency medicine and they must remain engaged in emergency practice consistent with their category of eligibility in order to remain eligible for the exam.

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