Application Criteria
The course director must:
- be a University of Toronto faculty member with an active appointment in the Faculty of Medicine.
- be responsible for all aspects of the continuing education event from developing the event through to implementation and evaluation.
- ensure that the CE Director and/or Chair of the sponsoring department (the course director's department) provide input on the academic and financial aspects (liability) for the program early on in the planning process.
- ensure that the event complies with the Policy on Commercial Support of University of Toronto Continuing Education Activities from Commercial Sources.
The event must:
- be a group learning continuing education activity, such as a conference, longitudinal course, workshop, seminar, or a web-based event.
- be a minimum 3 study credits in length unless it is part of a longitudinal event or a series. Continuing Education Event Educational and Ethical Criteria:
Continuing Education Event Educational and Ethical Criteria:
- Needs Assessment: A needs assessment of target audience has been performed.
- Goals and Objectives: Learning objectives have been defined according to the learning needs of participants.
- Planning Committee: The planning committee is representative of the target audience.
- Interactivity: A minimum 25% of the event is defined as interactive learning.
- Evaluation: Do participants have an opportunity to evaluate the event? Specifically, can they evaluate satisfaction, knowledge change, practice change, and health care outcomes?
- Fee: is there a registration fee for this event?
- External Financial Support (Commercial and Non-Commercial): if there is external funding for the event, is it being channeled or directed via an unrestricted educational grant through the course director's hospital or U of T Department?
(Please see Policy on Commercial Support of University of Toronto Continuing Education Activities from Commercial Sources).
- Faculty and Planning Committee Disclosure Policy: has the Faculty and Planning Committee Disclosure Policy been distributed to planning committee members and speakers?to planning committee members and speakers?
Application Process
Initiating the Online Application Process:
- Please contact the Accreditation and Sponsorship Coordinator (accreditation.cepd@utoronto.ca) with the following details:
- Formal title for the program
- Start and end date(s)
- Location
- Maximum anticipated enrolment
- Registration Fee (highest registration fee if there is a range of fees)
- Email address that you wish the link to be sent to
- An email will be automatically sent to your address:
- Click on the link in the email
- Click on the link for the event that you are applying for
- Click on the "Accred." Tab at the top
- Click on the button: "Click to view/edit the application form"
Completing, printing, and finalize the application form:
- Saving: Once you are in the application form, please click on the save feature or bar (yellow highlighting) after completing each section, otherwise the information will NOT be automatically saved.
- Printing: You may view and/or print the whole application prior to finalizing when you are in the “Finalize" page at the top left corner of the screen. Please press "Ctrl + Print" on your keyboard if you do not see a print function on the top of your screen.
- Finalizing: We recommend that course directors review their applications prior to clicking on the “Finalize your Submission" button since they cannot access the application after finalizing.
Documentation:
The following documentation is required for the review process. Under the "Files" section, you must upload the following documentation from your files (please do not send the following documentation by email):
Agenda: As per The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and The Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada's (RCPSC) criterion on interactivity, please state or identify on the agenda:
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- mode of interactivity, such as Q & A, panel discussions, small groups, live demonstrations, and/or i-clickers;
- duration per presentation. It is strongly recommended that each didactic presentation includes a minimum 25% interactivity by any of the afore-mentioned modes. It is important that the registrants, and not only the presenters, are aware of the interactivity in the program.
Needs Assessment Summary: This could be provided in a document summarizing participants' feedback from a previous offering of the event, summary of a survey, planning committee meeting minutes, and/or any published articles.
Evaluation Form: We strongly recommend including the following two questions:
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- will this event change your practice? (Yes, No, and How if Yes)
- Was the event balanced and unbiased (Yes, No, and How if No)
Budget Summary: Course directors must clarify the following on the budget template:
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- Under "Income", please list commercial and noncommercial funding as well as any income from registration. Names of commercial and non-commercial sources must be listed.
- Under "Expenses": It is not usual that U of T speakers are paid for speaking at continuing education events (please see Policy on Commercial Support page 6, Section 9). If there is an intention by the planning committee to pay U of T speakers a nominal fee, please discuss with your U of T Departmental Business Officer or Chair about your department's policy on paying U of T speakers.
Peer Review Process
Reviewers:
The reviewing committee is comprised of selected members from the CE Directors and Leaders Committee and an Educational Consultant from the Office of CEPD.
Length of Review:
There are no deadlines or fixed dates by which reviews are completed. A 3-4 week period is estimated for the review to be finalized.
There is no guarantee that the review and approval may be finalized on time if the application is unreasonably close to the start date of the event.
Reporting on Status of Applications:
The Accreditation and Sponsorship Coordinator (ASC) acts as a facilitator and liaison between the course director and the reviewers.
The ASC will contact you if there are questions or missing documentation.
Once all comments have been provided by the reviewers, the ASC will email you with the official summary of the comments. It is expected that you respond to this correspondence. If there are no issues that need to be addressed, an acknowledgement of the summary of the review would be appreciated.
Approval
A formal approval notification will be emailed to you outlining:
- The types of study credits that the program has been assigned
- The terms and conditions of U of T Sponsorship
- A sample letter of accreditation providing you with the exact wording to use in your final brochure and accreditation letters to participants.
- You will be required to send a PDF version of your program for advertising on the Office of CEPD's website.
Post Course Requirements
Course directors are required to submit the following Peer Review Process items up to a maximum of three months after the conclusion of the event:
- complete list of registrants
- summary of the evaluation forms
- sponsorship fee payment (depending on the type of event, details are provided in the approval document)
Other Accreditation Options
If an event does not fulfill the above-mentioned criteria for U of T Accreditation and Sponsorship, a course director may consider the following for:
a) events whose target audience members are family physicians, the course director may apply for Mainpro-M1 credits through the Ontario College of Family Physicians.
http://www.ocfp.on.ca/
b) events whose target audience members are specialists, the course director may apply for Section 1 credits through a Specialty Society of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. http://www.royalcollege.ca/portal/page/portal/rc/public
c) self-approved group-learning activities whose target audience members are specialists include hospital sponsored rounds, journal clubs or small group-learning activities, please visit The Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada's website for more information on how to apply, via these two links: The Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada's website for categories of self-accredited events: http://www.royalcollege.ca/portal/page/portal/rc/resources/nss
The Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada's website for the application form for self-accredited events: http://www.royalcollege.ca/portal/page/portal/rc/members/cpd/cpd_accreditation/self_approval_activities
