April 2022
CAPA MEMBERSHIP: WE’RE HERE FOR YOU
Although the March 31st deadline to renew your membership has passed, CAPA offers a grace period for those who have not yet had the chance to renew. However, after May 31st, 2022, you will no longer have access to your member benefits. To ensure there is no disruption in member services, renew your membership for the 2022-2023 membership year today. If you wish to pay by installment payments, contact admin@capa-acam.ca.
Certified PAs and members tracking their CPD with CAPA
As per the PACCC CPD policy, all CCPAs and members tracking their CPD through CAPA for their provincial requirements must meet the following:
- must annually renew their CAPA Membership
- must earn and report 400 credit hoursover the course of your five-year cycle
- must earn and report 40 credit hours annually, even in the years after you have reached the 400-credit minimum requirement.
- at the end of the five-year cycle; there must be at least 25 credit hours in Section 1 and 25 credit hours in Section 2. You may still earn and report activities in Section 3, however, having a minimum number of credit hours in this section is NOTa condition for meeting your CPD requirements.
The use of the CCPA designation is a recognized symbol of superior training and commitment to lifelong learning. Your professional designation is a confirmation for your employer, regulator, colleagues, and governments, that you have achieved the highest standard of excellence and are staying up to date, as established in the national competency profile EPA-PA.
Participants in the Mainport ePortfolio system with a lapsed CAPA membership will be advised of their INACTIVE CAPA membership status after the membership renewal period (31 May). At that time, participants will be referred to the PACCC CPD Policy and reminded that all participants must adhere to the requirements of the maintenance of certification or maintenance of competencies.
ADVOCACY NEWS
National
Government of Canada Meetings
CAPA met with the Atlantic Regional Advisor for the Minister of Indigenous Services on April 11th and the Office of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion on April 28th to discuss the following national priorities:
- Adding PAs to the Health Human Resources Strategy
- Create and fund PA positions in correctional facilities and Indigenous communities
- Gaining federal support for PA training programs
PA Education Advocacy Campaign
CAPA has secured meetings with Western to be held on May 10th, Queens University to be held on May 11th, along with the University of Ottawa who has invited CAPA to present to their Executive Leadership Team on May 18th. Stay tuned for more information.
British Columbia
The Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services has invited CAPA to participate in the Budget 2023 consultation. A consultation portal and public survey will launch on May 30th, 2022. CAPA encourages all PAs and stakeholders to participate and requests that the Government of BC regulates PAs. More information about this consultation is available here. CAPA encourages all those interested in seeing PAs be introduced into BC to write their MLA. A template letter can be found here.
Alberta
CAPA is seeking Alberta based PAs consultation on Alberta representation. We ask that all Alberta based PAs fill out this survey by May 18, 2022. The results of this survey will help inform next steps on Alberta labor representation. This survey is short and should only take a few minutes to complete.
Saskatchewan
CAPA has an upcoming meeting with the Executive Director of Workforce Planning and Employment Strategies with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. The focus of this meeting will be gaining support from critical stakeholders, like the Saskatchewan Health Authority, on introducing PAs into the province.
Manitoba
Manitoba PAs were recently sent a dedicated news blast with the latest information on advocacy efforts which can be found here.
CAPA is planning an advocacy and media training workshop for all PAs in Manitoba to attend, free of charge. The purpose of this workshop will be to discuss Manitoba priorities and the best tactics to influence change with government. This event will be held virtually on Thursday May 5 from 6PM – 7PM CST. Use this link to join the workshop.
Ontario
Election
Ontario is in the midst of an election campaign. In anticipation, CAPA has been working to have political parties include the expansion of PAs in their platforms. As part of this advocacy work, on April 14th, CAPA met with a representative from the Ontario Liberal Party.
Budget
The Minister of Finance released the 2022 Ontario Budget on April 28th. Ontario’s Plan to Build includes continued investments in Long-Term Care, the expansion of Home Care and Community Support services, and the elimination of Bill 124 to name a few. To read the full budget, click here.
Ministry of Health
CAPA and the Ministry of Health have identified two workstreams where PAs can improve access to quality care in a cost-effective manner. Expanding the PA model in Long-Term Care (LTC) and Homecare would aid with the health human resource shortage in the province, improve patient care, and encourage more team-based care. CAPA has submitted a brief to the Ministry that includes a LTC Innovation proposal, Homecare Case Study and Proposal from McMaster and The Consortium of PA Education to request more training spots. A follow-up meeting will be held with the Ministry to discuss funding positions in LTC and Homecare. Stay tuned for more information.
Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC)
The OCC has embarked on a journey to redesign its service delivery model and is exploring the use of PAs to support the death investigation process. CAPA met with the OCC on April 26th to provide them with an understanding of the PA profession in Ontario including the size of the potential workforce, geographic distribution, remuneration/salary ranges, and more.
OPAA
The OPAA will hold a member meeting on May 16th from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm to discuss member dues and the CLAC Service Agreement. If you are a member of the OPAA, you should have received a communication with participant information. If you did not receive this email, please contact Kristy Corrente at kcorrente@capa-acam.ca.
New Brunswick
On March 24th, New Brunswick Provincial Director, Ryan Bennett and CAPA had a follow-up meeting with Deputy Minister of Health Heidi Liston. The Minister’s office is working quickly to expand the use of PAs in the province into primary care. If you are interested in working in New Brunswick, please contact Manager of Advocacy and Stakeholder Relations for eastern Canada, Kristy Corrente at kcorrente@capa-acam.ca
CAPA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
CAPA 2022 will take place at the Hilton in beautiful Quebec City from November 10th – 13th.
The call for presentation proposal abstracts and speakers will remain open as the Program Planning Committee develops the program. CAPA is looking for clinical skills workshops, along with oral and panel presentations to round out the high-caliber program. For more details, please visit the CAPA website. Submit your presentation proposal by using the template provided, along with a completed disclosure form.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT SURVEYS
The University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry has asked PAs to fill out this survey to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on double-duty caregivers — Canadians providing healthcare and then as a family caregiver at home. It is delivered on the secure REDCap survey platform https://redcap.link/doubleduty. The study has been approved by the University of Alberta Health Research Ethics Board Pro00117700. The survey will be open until June 30, 2022.
PAs IN THE NEWS
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta has interviewed a PA from Edmonton’s University of Alberta Hospital, to learn more about their role as a PA in Alberta’s healthcare system. Be sure to check out the piece Celebrating one year of physician assistant regulation in Alberta: part one.
JOB LISTINGS
Visit the Job Listings in the members only section of the CAPA website for the latest career opportunities. New positions in April include the Hamilton Family Health Team Physicians in Hamilton Mountain, Ontario, for Dr. Jamsheed Desai (Neurologist) in Mississauga, Ontario as well as at McMaster University Medical Centre (NeoNatal) in Hamilton, Ontario and at Lake of Woods District Hospital in Kenora, Ontario. There are also many other job ads listed in cardiac sciences, uro-oncology and acute/operating room.
If you have job ads to share or know a physician or organization looking to incorporate PAs into their practice, send them to us at admin@capa-acam.ca. We post job ads for free on the Job Listings page and, for a small fee we can email job opportunities directly to all our members.
CPD EVENTS
Don’t forget to check out the CPD Events Calendar on the CAPA website where you’ll find upcoming events to help you meet your maintenance of competencies or maintenance of certification requirements. Many organizations share their educational events with us.
STAKEHOLDER EVENTS
The Canadian Conference on Medical Education (CCME) hosts the largest annual gathering of medical educators in the Country. CCME is the place for medical educators to share and experience the latest innovations and approaches, and foster relationships across the medical education community. Learn more here.
CERTIFICATION
2022 PA Cert Exam
Registration for the 2022 PA Cert Exam which will be administered on October 6, 2022 will be open on June 16, 2022 for 13 weeks. The registration deadline will be September 22, 2022 and it is important to note that NO registrations will be accepted after this date.
Once all the registrations are completed, candidates will be provided with information on how to proceed with getting registered through the ProctorU platform.
Reminder notices will be included in all future news bulletins as well as correspondence with the programs and directly to the list of eligible exam writers.