What are the principles governing CPSA’s Continuing Competence program?

Our philosophy of physician performance is based on the Cambridge Model of Physician Performance[1], which recognizes that performance is influenced by competence, individual factors and system factors.

• The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the College of Family Physicians of Canada support and encourage the use of the CanMEDs framework, which recognizes that physicians must be more than just medical experts. Being a professional, a communicator, a collaborator, a leader, a health advocate and a scholar are all abilities required to be an effective physician.
• The Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada (FMRAC) supports a physician’s continuous quality improvement, based around the CanMEDS roles (medical expert, communicator, collaborator, leader, health advocate, scholar and professional). Their system for practice improvement (pictured below) was developed with the understanding that each physician has a unique practice and therefore unique learning needs.

• The Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Quadruple Aim framework was designed to help healthcare organizations move towards collective goals. It encompasses enhancing patient experience, improving population health, increasing value and quality of care, and improving work/life balance of health care workers.

[1] Adapted from: Rethans, JJ, Norcini, JJ, Baron-Maldonado, M, Blackmore, D, Jolly, BC, LaDuca, T, Lew, S, Page, GG & Southgate, LH (2002). The relationship between competence and performance: implications for assessing practice performance. Medical Education (36) 901-909.