Outcomes of Training Project

2023-11-16

 

Memo to Academic and Project Partners, Provincial Chapters, and CFPC Membership

Re: Operationalizing the CFPC Board of Directors motion to cease implementation of the third year of family medicine residency training

On November 6th and 7th, the Board of Directors of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) met and reflected on the 2023 Annual Meeting of Members (AMM), the events preceding the AMM, the role and responsibilities of the Board, and broadly on the challenges facing family medicine. As a result of this meeting a full Board statement was issued (read the full statement).

At this meeting, the Board passed a motion to cease the implementation of the third year in family medicine residency training. As part of this, the Board agreed on an operational definition of ceasing implementation in terms of changes to Outcomes of Training Project (OTP) activities, which includes recognizing current contractual obligations related to the Team Primary Care educational initiative. It should be noted that the CFPC had not yet made any changes to the standards of postgraduate accreditation or certification, and so the main change involves not proceeding to that step.

The resulting impacts on the OTP were shared with family medicine chairs and program directors, along with other educational leadership at Family Medicine Forum, and are outlined in this memo as part of a broader communication with academic and project partners, provincial Chapters, and CFPC members.

In tangible and specific terms:

The CFPC board has advised that we will stop all directives related to implementing a three-year residency. The CFPC will not introduce any changes to residency accreditation standard 3.2.2.7, which defines the minimum length of residency training as 24 months.

This includes:

1. Stopping the development of the OTP Policy Alignment Strategy. This concept, recently endorsed by the Family Medicine Specialty Committee, was to begin in early 2024 and involve the review and alignment of our educational standards to support implementation.
2. Stopping change stewardship and partner engagement efforts aimed at advocating for the implementation of three-year training.

As per stipulations of the Team Primary Care funded initiative, the CFPC will continue related curriculum renewal work and agreed upon deliverables with university partners (but without any requirement for a three-year program).

This includes:

1. Submission of a Curriculum Renewal Plan and Change Readiness Assessment Report from each university, as scheduled. The nature of the Change Readiness Assessment Report may be adjusted to comment on readiness within a two-year versus three-year training resource given the recent decision to cease implementation.
2. Contracted educational design and development work including the December 2023 Education Design Retreat, Curriculum Renewal Guides, and educational policy research.

The Residency Training Profile (RTP) continues to serve as the CFPC’s definition of comprehensiveness in training. We will work collaboratively with schools to examine what is possible within the current training environment to inform future discussions.

Guided by the AMM motions, the CFPC will start a comprehensive, independent review process that engages multiple interest holders to explore existing and new educational evidence and reconsider recommendations and curriculum renewal options. This work has not started yet and will be subject to further Board deliberation and approval.

We are committed to continuing this important dialogue and keeping all interest holders updated on our progress.

Nancy Fowler, MD, CCFP, FCFP
Deputy CEO and Executive Director
College of Family Physicians of Canada

Michael E. Green, MD, MPH, CCFP, FCFP, FCAHS
President
College of Family Physicians of Canada

www.cfpc.ca/futurefp
Contact us: [email protected]