Policy for new registrants in the COVID-19 era
However, the CCO’s Registration Committee recognizes there is a compelling public interest for accommodating applicants who cannot attempt the examinations or provide all of the required documentation given the public health restrictions necessitated by COVID-19.
Provisionally registering these applicants will enable the public to have greater access to chiropractic services at a time when the pandemic has slowed or reduced access to them. For newly graduated chiropractors, this accommodation enables them to maintain their competencies, with the appropriate mentorship and guidance, during the important transition from completing their education to beginning independent practice.
While it is rare to exempt examination requirements, it is both legal and acceptable with the appropriate caveats. Any temporary accommodations must be transparent to the public. As soon as practicable, applicants who have been exempted from an exam requirement will have to complete it. Certificates of registration for those who attempt an exam but are unsuccessful will expire automatically.
Moreover, the provisional registrant will only be entitled to practice under the direct mentorship of a CCO member in good standing with at least five years of practice experience, who must be physically present and available for consultation at all times during the applicant’s performance of patient-related activities.
Indeed, as the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation’s ACE report concluded: “Most important from the review of contextual evidence was the highlighting of formal in-practice mentorship as a critical component of provisional registration. Several peer organizations indicated that requiring mentorship arrangements as part of provisional registration policy was an important protective intervention.”
I want to thank the Registration Committee for its careful and comprehensive approach in formulating this appropriate policy innovation, and for demonstrating CCO’s regulatory leadership.
Appointment of Dr. Frazer Smith to CCO Council
I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Frazer Smith (District 7) has agreed to join CCO Council. Dr. Smith returns to Council after having previously served the public interest for six years as a Council member in a number of roles, including on Executive Council and as chair of the Quality Assurance, Fitness to Practice, Registration, and Advertising Committees. Dr. Smith also served as a Peer Assessor from 2001-2016, and has been the Prehearing Conference Chair for discipline matters since 2012. He is thoroughly familiar with CCO’s public interest mandate and all its standards, policies and guidelines, and we welcome him back to Council.
As I noted in my June 17, 2020 President’s message, if no candidates from CMCC faculty were to submit their candidacy in the by-election for District 7, then CCO’s governance directs that any eligible CCO member in good standing may be selected to fill the vacancy. No candidacies were received, and Dr. Smith was selected to lend his considerable expertise to Council.
With the appointment of Dr. Smith filling the vacancy in District 7, CCO Council is now fully and properly constituted. This means that internal elections for committee positions on Council can now be held virtually on August 14, 2020. Any member wishing to observe the proceeding is welcome to contact Rose Bustria and Joel Friedman to obtain the necessary information and protocols for attending this virtual meeting.
I am very much looking forward to working with the reconstituted committees as well as the new members, both public and professional, who have recently joined Council. Collectively, it is our privilege to serve Ontarians in the regulation of chiropractic in this province, amidst the unique challenges of the continuing pandemic response.