Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference

The CPD Advisory Committee (CPDAC) is an operational committee of the ACFP.

PURPOSE

The CPDAC will be engaged and responsive to emerging trends in the development and delivery of continuing professional development opportunities for family physicians in Alberta. The Committee will provide support to the College’s CPD initiatives that promote the role family physicians play in delivering the highest quality care to patients and their communities across Alberta. The committee will operate in an advisory capacity by providing recommendations to the Executive Director and ACFP Board.

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES

The ACFP CPD Advisory Committee will:

1. Provide strategic guidance to the ACFP staff team and related operational committees on continuing professional development programs and services offered by the ACFP.
2. Provide strategic guidance in relation to emerging trends and identifiable gaps in learners.
3. Provide guidance in ACFP’s CME/CPD needs assessment to determine the educational needs of family physicians in Alberta, and will contribute to establishing the ACFP’s leadership and profile in CPD.
4. Provide guidance on online and virtual education and resources.
5. Understand the workings of the CFPC’s Mainpro+ certification and credit reporting platforms and provide guidance on communications to advance adherence to CFPC certification requirements to ensure family physicians, and educational programming developed for family physicians, meet the CFPC’s high standards for medical education and training.
6. Provide guidance on the ACFP’s activities and communications supporting physicians learning from their practice (practice quality improvement)
7. Review CPD issues, position papers, and policies as necessary, and provide feedback to the ACFP Board and Management.
8. Understand that subsequent initiatives, programs, and innovations around the ACFP’s CPD programming will fall under the purview of the CPDAC.
9. Read, understand, and adhere to the ACFP Volunteer Code of Conduct and the Roles and Expectations of Committee Members found in the Volunteer Information

MEMBERSHIP

Membership will be regional representation to ensure that the CPD needs of the ACFP’s membership across the province are met. Committee Members must be ACFP Members in good standing.

The CPDAC will consist of a minimum of five (5) and a maximum of ten (10) members who will serve a 3-year term with an opportunity for renewal for a second 3-year term. The renewal for the second term is not subject to the ACFP’s Nominations process. Whether the renewable term will be offered to a Committee member is determined by the Chair, Executive Director, and Staff Liaison assigned to the Committee.

Membership will include:

• Chair
• Ideally, at least one regional representative from the following geographical health zones: North, South, Central, Calgary, and Edmonton
• The Chairs (or designates) of the Family Medicine Summit (Summit), Virtual Education Committee (VEC)

Additional members invited to attend CPD Advisory Committee meetings will be:
The Chairs (or designates) of the Family Medicine Summit (Summit) and Virtual Education Committee (VEC).

Committee Chairs are selected by the existing Committee Members, recommended to the Governance Advisory Committee, and approved by the Board. If a Chair cannot be chosen or elected by the Committee, nominations will be sought through the regular nomination process. Operational Committee Chairs and Members are presented to the ACFP Membership for their information at the Annual Meeting of Members (AMM) and posted on the ACFP website.

To give all Operational Committee Members an opportunity to lead, Committee Chair terms will be for a maximum of three consecutive years based on the July 1 to June 30 term cycle. A Committee Member’s term supersedes their term as a Committee Chair. For example, if a Member is serving in their second 3-year term and they have only one year left, then their term as Chair ends when their Committee Member term ends in one year. If a Committee Member is starting a new 3-year term, for example, and they become Chair, they can choose to serve a maximum of three years, renewing annually their commitment as Chair through the Committee Staff Liaison. If a Chair decides to step down at any time, they simply advise the Committee Staff Liaison of their intent, and together they work with the current Committee Members to recruit for their replacement.

In addition to the membership it should be noted that the Executive Director of the ACFP is a member of all ACFP Committees without voting privileges.

Internal Linkages:
The two operational committees which fall under the CPD Advisory Committee are the Summit Planning Committee and the VEC.

The Summit is the College’s annual, premier educational conference, for family physicians. The ACFP Summit Planning Committee is responsible for identifying and selecting the education programs offered at the conference. Feedback from the CPD Survey will be provided to the Chair of the Summit Planning Committee to guide topic selection for the Summit. The Chair of the Summit will be invited to participate as a full member of CPD Advisory Committee. The Chair of the CPD Advisory Committee will participate as an ex officio member of the Summit Planning Committee.

The VEC is a newly-struck standing committee for the ACFP. Since the growth and acceptance of online learning from members, the ACFP has identified that providing alternative modalities for learning will be an added value and complement to its current CPD and continuing medical education (CME) programming. The Chair of the VEC will be invited to participate as a full member of the CPD Advisory Committee. The Committee is responsible for the development and delivery of the ACFP’s Virtual Education programming. Committee members must be prepared to have substantial involvement in the development of CPD/CME opportunities and provide timely and responsive guidance to inform decisions on how to fulfill the CME and CPD gaps for members.

In the absence of participation, reports from the Chairs of the Summit Planning Committee and VEC will be requested.

Additionally, the Chair of the CPD Advisory Committee will participate as an ex officio member of the Summit Planning Committee.

In the absence of participation, reports from the Chairs of the Summit Planning Committee and VEC will be requested.

Subsequent Linkages:
Subsequent programs that fall under the ACFP’s CPD activities will be required to provide reports to the CPDAC. Should a committee or ad-hoc committee be struck, the Governance Advisory Committee will make recommendations to the CPDAC for further linkages. Program Sub-Committees and Ad-Hoc Committees will have a direct report to the CPDAC.

External Linkages:
Linking with others who are experts in CPD development (e.g. Universities, etc.) is important. Feedback and information will be sought from identified individuals as needed. Reports will be requested, or they will be invited to participate as guests as required.

MEMBER EXPECTATIONS

The actions of each member shall serve the best interests of the Committee, the ACFP Board, and the wider membership. It is expected that each member:

• Know and support the organization’s vision, mission, and belief statement
• Know the Committee’s scope of work and Terms of Reference and assist is developing future goals and strategic direction for the Committee as required
• Positively promote the work of the Committee and the ACFP through interactions with the ACFP membership and external colleagues and stakeholders
• Adhere to the ACFP Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy and declare to the Committee if at any time you think you might have a potential conflict
• At the point of onboarding, ask as many questions as necessary of the Staff Liaison and Chair to bring yourself up-to-date with the work of the Committee and the ACFP as quickly as possible
• Help to make members, especially new people feel welcome
• Assist in recruiting new members
• Complete your three-year term of office

Meetings and Communications

Guidelines to facilitate decision-making and communication:

• Attend at least four meetings per year (in person or virtual) as scheduled. If unable to attend, advise the Staff Liaison as soon as possible in advance of the meeting. If unable to attend, provide your feedback to the Staff Liaison or Chair on any matters to be discussed at the meeting.
• Prepare for meetings by reviewing the meeting agenda and applicable documents, including draft meeting minutes
• Contribute to the meeting discussions and participate in decisions made; encourage others to do the same
• Be kind and considerate of other members’ ideas even if you do not share the same opinion
• Engage in and be responsive to email communication, dialogue, and committee actions required between formal meetings; respond to requests within 48 hours or as otherwise directed by the sender
• Perform agreed-upon tasks as decided in committee meetings in a timely fashion
• Report progress of tasks as requested
• Complete meeting or program evaluations and/or ACFP surveys as required

REPORTING RELATIONSHIP

As an Operational Committee, the CPDAC is accountable to the Executive Director. The Committee will make recommendations to the ACFP Staff for the implementation of existing programs and initiatives, as well as to the ACFP Board through the Executive Director for extension or development of new programs or initiatives with budget or resource implications.

ADMINISTRATION SUPPORT

Administrative and operational support for meetings and ongoing communications will be provided by the ACFP. Two senior staff members will be assigned to the committee who will be responsible for formulating agendas; collecting and presenting information regarding the areas of discussion; passing on discussion, recommendations, and input from the committee to appropriate parties; and will facilitate the work of the Committee between meetings.

Staff members should include key personnel who are either directly involved in the delivery of CPD activities and/or have direct experience with the CFPC’s certification process and ACFP’s responsibility and work to certify programs. More specific duties include:

• Gather and collate input from the Committee to progress the operational deliverables outlined by the Executive Director
• Assess, plan, and report on Committee work for submission to the Chair
• Provide feedback, advice to Chair or Committee members on deliverables
• Assist in providing evaluative feedback of Committee members to the Chair

MEETINGS

Meetings will be called by the Chair and facilitated by the Staff Liaison. It is anticipated there will be 3-4 meetings per year with at least one being held face-to-face, as well as ongoing communication via email between meetings.