Accrediting a CPD Event

The Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism is an accredited provider of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Sections 1 and 3 approved credits for the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). We discuss here the procedures to have your physician- or industry-led CPD event approved.

Steps

Determine if you are a physician organization or a non-physician organization (see below).
Complete the appropriate online proposal (see PDFs below for requirements prior to opening the online form):
- Proposal for Accredited Activities — Physician Organizations
- CSEM Proposal for Co-developed Activity — Non-physician
Contact CSEM for proposal feedback.
Physician organizations may develop and submit their program to CSEM for review. Non-physician organizations must co-develop their program with CSEM.

To help you prepare your proposal, below you will find the information that will be required in order to complete the form:

Policies, Forms and Fees

Applications for accreditation should be submitted at least 8 weeks before the date that the first advertisement for the event will be printed. An additional $1000 fee will be charged for applications requiring an expedited review in less than 8 weeks.

You can download the following forms (fillable PDFs) and fee structure to assist you with developing and applying for Section 1 accreditation:

Physician Organizations

Physician organizations may apply for accreditation of CPD activities with the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (CSEM). CSEM, as the accredited CPD provider, is responsible for reviewing the CPD activity against defined administrative, educational and ethical standards for accredited group learning.

A physician organization is defined by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada as a not-for-profit group of health professionals with a formal governance structure, accountable to and serving, among others, its specialist physician members through continuing professional development, provision of health care, and/or research.

Examples of physician organizations:

faculties of medicine
hospital departments or divisions
medical societies
medical associations
medical academies
physician research organizations
health authorities not linked to government agencies
Canadian provincial/territorial medical regulatory authorities (MRAs)

Policies — Physician Organizations

The physician organization:

assumes responsibility for the content of the learning activity
ensures adherence to accreditation guidelines:
must be involved in planning all aspects of the CPD activity with the non-physician organization from the beginning of the planning process
is responsible to receive any financial and in-kind support for the development of an accredited CPD activity
has ultimate authority over all decisions and is accountable to ensure that the administrative, educational and ethical accreditation standards for group learning activities are met
is responsible for the payment of honoraria, travel, lodging and meal expenses for faculty presenting at an accredited group learning activity
is responsible for maintaining attendance records for a five-year period
is responsible for providing attendees with certificates of participation
is responsible for submitting an application to an accredited CPD provider
is responsible for implementing the activity based on the plan approved by the accredited CPD provider

Procedures — Physician Organizations

The physician organization completes the online proposal form.
The form is reviewed by CSEM's CPD committee.
CSEM may provide feedback or suggestions to help the physician organization with program development.
The physician organization develops the program and ensures adherence with accreditation standards.
The physician organization submits an accreditation application to CSEM for final review with required supporting documentation.
CSEM’s CPD committee and subject experts (if needed) review the activity to ensure the program is in compliance with accreditation standards. Changes may be required before accreditation is granted.
CSEM will invoice the physician organization for the accreditation review fee ($3,500 plus tax). Fee is non-refundable and accreditation is not guaranteed.

Non-Physician Organizations

Non-physician organizations must apply for co-development with the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (CSEM). Co-development is defined by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) as the process by which two or more organizations — at least one of which must be a physician organization — prospectively collaborate to develop and implement an accredited educational activity.

As an accredited provider of the RCPSC, CSEM assumes responsibility for the content of all activities co-developed with non-physician organizations and ensures adherence to the National Standard for Support of Accredited CPD Activities.

Policies — Non-Physician Organizations

CSEM must be involved in planning all aspects of the CPD activity with the co-developer from the beginning of the planning process.
CSEM has ultimate authority over all decisions and is accountable to ensure that the administrative, educational and ethical accreditation standards for the co-developed activity are met.
CSEM is responsible to receive any financial and in-kind support for the development of the program. CSEM and the scientific planning committee (SPC) cannot be required to accept advice from a co-developer or sponsor as a condition of financial and in-kind support.
A CSEM representative, appointed by CSEM, will participate fully in the activities of the SPC including content development, program design, speaker selection, implementation, and evaluation.
Co-developed Section 1 group learning activities amust adhere to the RCPSC CPD Activity Accreditation Standards for the Maintenance of Certification Program, and Section 3 self-assessment programs must adhere to the RCPSC Standards for accredited self-assessment programs.
CSEM prefers multiple sponsors or co-developers, but this is not a requirement.
Co-development of the CPD activity will be recognized by a statement on all program materials which will be provided to the applicant when accreditation is complete.

Procedures — Non-Physician Organizations

The non-physician organization contacts This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to explore potential topics.
The non-physician organization submits a proposal to co-develop an activity.
The proposal is reviewed by the CSEM CPD committee. Modifications may be required before the proposal is accepted.
If accepted, CSEM and the co-developer sign an agreement outlining mutual responsibilities for the development and delivery of the program, CSEM accreditation and fees, activity budget and how funds will be managed.
Once the agreement has been signed by both parties, CSEM appoints a representative to the SPC who will participate fully in the planning activities.
The SPC develops the program content and materials, and submits the program to CSEM for final review along with an accreditation application form, required supporting documentation and fees.
CSEM’s CPD committee and subject experts (if needed) review the activity (including slides, promotional materials, handouts, etc.) to ensure the program is in compliance with accreditation standards. Changes may be required before accreditation is granted.

CSEM CPD Support Office

All requests for accreditation are managed through the CPD Support Office of the CSEM. Please contact the CSEM before planning your activity:

Inika Anderson
Executive Director
Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism
192 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1W8 Canada
Phone: 613-594-0005
Fax: 613-260-3235
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.endo-metab.ca

Royal College Accreditation Toolkit

The Royal College has created a CPD Activity Tookit as a resource to assist accredited CPD providers and developers of educational activities seeking to create quality group learning. This toolkit includes guidance on developing needs assessments, learning objectives, educational delivery methods, and evaluations, as well as advice about relationships with speakers and/or financial sponsors.

Working with Industry

Accredited CPD learning activities must meet the Guidelines for Physicians in Interactions with Industry of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and the the National Standard for Support of Accredited CPD Activities.

In the province of Québec, the Code of Ethics of the Conseil québécois de développement professionnel continu des médecins (CQDPCM) must be met; and the CPD event or program evaluation form must include the following question: “Did the activity comply with the Code of Ethics for parties involved in continuing medical education?”

CSEM Copyright Policy

All necessary permissions must be obtained, and appropriate acknowledgements given for your educational content. Please note that if you would like to distribute a specific reference (i.e. journal article, therapeutic guidelines, publication) that requires copyright permission, please obtain copyright permission yourself. In addition, it is the speakers’/content developers' responsibility to ensure that copyright is not infringed when producing their slides or other materials.