Featured News
All NewsCPSA programs for physicians
As part of our responsibility to protect the public, CPSA works with physicians to ensure patients are getting the high level of quality care they need and deserve.
We do this by working collaboratively with the profession and by offering a variety of programs and resources to help physicians in their practice.
"Our Continuing Competence program continues to evolve based on input from our partners, emerging evidence and best practices in regulation."
- Dr. Dawn Hartfield, CPSA Assistant Registrar

Physician Assessment & Feedback |
Physician Practice Improvement |
Physician Prescribing Practices |
Professionalism
CPSA’s Standards of Practice, the Code of Conduct and the Code of Ethics & Professionalism will guide your behaviours in practice and are enforceable under the Health Professions Act (HPA).
Standards of Practice |
Advice to the Profession |
Code of Conduct |
Code of Ethics |
Complaints
As a physician, you have the training, skills and intention to provide safe patient care, but at some point or another in your medical career, you may receive a complaint. This is not always a bad thing—in fact, it can often result in positive practice changes.
Physician resources
We have developed a resource bank to help you find resources to support you in your practice. Click on All Resources and filter by "Physicians" to explore the resource bank or use the search to find other relevant resources.
All ResourcesAlberta Medical Association Website
Alberta Medical Association (AMA) Click to view filesAMA EMR Support
Alberta Medical Association (AMA) Click to view filesAMA After Hours Support for Continuity of Care
Alberta Medical Association (AMA) Click to view filesHealth Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) Website
Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) Click to view filesPCN Information Sharing Agreement template
Alberta Medical Association (AMA) Click to view filesCan medical clinic staff be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19?
There is no provincial mandate to exclude staff and volunteers who are not immunized against COVID-19 from work. However, individual employers may require employees to be immunized as part of a workplace occupational health and safety policy aimed at protecting coworkers, patients and volunteers. For more details, see the Alberta Government’s COVID-19 as a Workplace Hazard resource.
Can medical clinic staff be required to wear masks?
Clinic managers and employers can require their staff to continue wearing masks and any other necessary PPE while working within the clinic as part of a workplace occupational health and safety policy aimed at protecting coworkers, patients and volunteers. For more details, see the Alberta Government’s COVID-19 as a Workplace Hazard resource.
Can physicians or medical clinic staff attend work if they have tested positive for COVID-19?
All Albertans, including physicians and medical clinic staff, must follow the province’s isolation requirements.
I am a physician. Can I access patient records from Alberta Health Services (AHS) to respond to a complaint?
If CPSA receives a complaint about care you provided in an AHS facility, you can request access to health information related to this care held by AHS (such as patient records) for the purpose of responding to the complaint. Simply complete the AHS Physician Use and Disclosure of Health Information for Responding to a CPSA Complaint form and submit it to AHS as per the instructions on the form.
Members of the AHS medical staff can log into the AHS Unified Access Portal to access the form, FAQs and additional information.
What are steps physicians can take to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in medical clinics?
Clinic managers and employers can ask their staff to continue wearing masks and any other necessary PPE while working within the clinic. While physicians cannot deny care to a patient who refuses to wear a mask, physicians may use their judgment and experience to determine if the patient may be treated safely in another way. Some steps to reduce risk include limiting walk-in appointments, providing virtual care when appropriate, maintaining physical distancing in waiting rooms and throughout the care space, performing pre-screening and point-of-care risk assessments, and continuing to follow CPSA’s Infection Prevention and Control general standards.