Linking Learning to Practice
As a family physician, you participate in a variety of activities that contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of knowledge and skills. Learning surrounds you; from interacting with patients daily, to mentoring healthcare trainees, to participating on medical committees.
Appreciating this, the CFPC has developed an innovative means for you to earn Mainpro-C credits at your own pace and at no additional cost. It involves an approach to answering questions through information appraisal and integration, rather than information acquisition – and it is called Linking Learning to Practice.
What is Linking Learning to Practice?
Linking Learning to Practice is a self-administered, semi-structured exercise. It challenges you to look at day-to-day activities as learning opportunities. The Linking Learning to Practice submission form helps you to identify a question, and then guides you through a series of critical inquiry and practice reflection exercises on your way to answering the question .
Each completed Linking Learning to Practice exercise earns you two Mainpro-C credits and two bonus Mainpro-M1 credits.
Submit online.
What types of activities are eligible?
The questions that form the foundation Linking Learning to Practice exercises can stem from a variety of clinical and non-clinical activities, such as:
Clinical Activities | Non-clinical Activities |
- office practice
- hospital work
- emergency medicine
- psychotherapy
- sports medicine
- occupational health
| - medical/hospital administration
- research
- teaching
- acting as an examiner
- insurance advisor
- committee work
- medical/hospital administration
|
Example Linking Learning to Practice Questions
1. You recently attended medical rounds on breast cancer. You learn that the local breast cancer screening program is using a different set of recommendations than those used in your office. You ask yourself: “Which recommendations apply best to my patients and how can I be sure that all of my eligible patients are being screened by either myself or the local program?”
2. During your CFPC chapter’s recent ASA, you attended a workshop on changes to “routine” pre-natal care. You ask yourself: “Should I be recommending nuchal translucency screening to all pregnant patients, and if so, how might I best explain the risks and benefits?”
3. You helped to develop clinical practice guidelines around prevention of falls for a local nursing home. You ask yourself: “What should I be doing to identify elderly patients in my office practice who may be at risk for falls?”
4. You just concluded a research project using an open-ended questionnaire to identify factors influencing smoking among adolescent females in your health district. You ask yourself: “Was this the best way to obtain this data, or would focus groups perhaps have been more effective?”
5. You were a surveyor for an accreditation survey visit of another university’s family medicine program. You ask yourself: “How might I present this experience to my post-graduate committee and possibly improve the in-training evaluation process for our residents?”
How do I start?
It’s simple. First, download or review the Linking Learning to Practice submission form and familiarize yourself with the steps below. The form will guide you through these steps:
- Identifying a specific question
- Locating the resources to address your question
- Analyzing the information and resources as they apply to your question
- Reflecting upon the process after a sufficient time period has elapsed
Once these steps are complete, submit your form to the CFPC to claim your credits.
* Do not use this form if you are submitting Mainpro-C credits for any of the following activities: traineeships and fellowships, writing examinations, university degree programs, audits and QA activities, and provincial practice review programs. These require specific forms.