Continuing Competency Program Project

Traditional Continuing Education (CE) programs have limited impact on the quality of daily practice. Health care professionals have difficulty accurately self-assessing their practice strengths and weaknesses, leading to selection of CE based on factors such as availability, cost or general interest rather than on practice need. Alternate programs are necessary to both assure the public that pharmacists maintain their competence to practice and to support meaningful improvement that reflects today’s practice realities.

The QA Committee has focused on the ‘dual reality’ that requires CPhM to carefully consider the challenges of pharmacists’ daily practice when developing a program that fulfills CPhM’s regulatory requirements. Focus is being placed on recognizing pharmacists’ daily, ongoing efforts to continuously enhance their practice through, for example, learning for individual patients, teaching and preceptorship. CPhM is also focused on supporting pharmacists making use of data from their own practices to guide learning and improvement.

The definition of competency CPhM is using is:

• The habitual and judicious use of communications, knowledge, technical skills, clinical reasoning, emotions, values and reflection in daily practice for the benefit of the individual and community being served. (ii)

• • Epstein RM, Hundert EM. Defining and Assessing Professional Competence. JAMA. 2002;287(2):226.

CPhM is reviewing models used by regulators for pharmacy and the broader health professions across Canada and internationally. These programs have different names such as CCP, Quality Assurance (QA), Practice Improvement (PI), Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). Many of these programs are undergoing similar review, and CPhM is collaborating to both learn from the PRA ‘s ongoing experience and to share literature that is defining current best practices.

The CCP must consider the five main criteria for quality programs as follows (ii):

• Validity – Does the program measure and support the development of important aspects of pharmacist’s quality of practice?
• Reliability – Is the program fair and consistent across different days, sites, pharmacists, and situations?
• Feasibility – Are the necessary resources available to CPhM to implement the program within reasonable timeframes? Is it realistic for registrants to complete the program’s requirements given practice expectations?
• Acceptability – From CPhM’s perspective, is the program feasible and does it meet regulatory requirements? For registrants, acceptability also includes whether the program feels meaningful and supports them in their efforts to improve their practice.
• Impact – Does the program lead to desired changes in practice? Does it avoid unintended negative consequences, especially given the high workload pharmacy professionals face?

• • ii. Van der Vleuten CPM. The Assessment of Professional Competence: Developments, Research and Practical Considerations. Advances in Health Sciences Education. 1996;(1):41-67.

Registrant feedback is important for the QA Committee to clearly understand how the proposed revisions to the CCP would affect pharmacist’s daily practice and to be aware of pharmacist’s concerns and potential anxieties surrounding new CCP requirements. This understanding enables the QA Committee to address these issues directly with the goal of supporting pharmacists and encouraging their engagement with the new CCP. Pharmacy professionals will have multiple opportunities to participate in focus groups, have their questions answered, and provide their perspectives on the proposed revisions to the CCP.  Please keep an eye on future Friday Fives and Newsletters for feedback opportunities.

The Continuing Competency Program is designed to support pharmacy professionals in their daily practice while ensuring CPhM meets its regulatory responsibilities. CPhM and the Quality Assurance Committee recognize constraints in pharmacy professionals’ work and daily lives and want to ensure the program maximizes value and minimizes administrative burden.

The target date for completion of initial pilot testing is mid 2027. Based on results, revisions will be made to the Visionary CCP Framework and a phased implementation plan developed. Updates will be shared through CPhM’s Friday Fives and Newsletters.

The revised CCP currently applies to registered pharmacists. At present, CPhM does not fully regulate pharmacy technicians. Once CPhM transitions under The Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA), CPhM will have a similar responsibility to assure the competency of pharmacy technicians, as it does for registered pharmacists.