The Council of the Alberta College of Pharmacy (ACP) has approved amendments to the Standards of Practice for Continuing Competence (SPCC) of the college for the purpose of consultation.
The SPCC were reviewed by ACP’s Competence Committee, and the proposed changes reflect insights received from a program evaluation, literature review, Council members, and ACP’s administrative team; and consideration of continuing competence programs (CCPs) of other regulatory organizations.
The current CCPs have been in place since 2014 and are primarily based on continuing professional development to support regulated members in maintaining their competence. In October 2018, Council approved the Professionalism Framework, describing the tenets of professionalism, and acknowledged this would be foundational to ACP in policy development to ensure consistent language was used to describe an engaged pharmacy professional. Success, as defined within ACP’s strategic plan for 2021-25, is achieved when regulated members who are prescribed practice improvement demonstrate competence by meeting the standards of practice and the Code of Ethics to better support the health and well-being of patients. To meet this goal, in late 2022, Council approved the addition of the Practice Improvement Program (PIP) to the current CCPs.
Program evaluation is an important aspect of program improvement. Regulated members are asked to annually complete a survey about the CCPs following their completion of the requirements. The results of these surveys were used by the Competence Committee to help propose improvements to the program (e.g., refinement of the learning and implementation records, removal of the peer verification form for pharmacy technicians). However, a comprehensive CCP evaluation was needed to better understand experiences within the CCPs, and this evaluation was completed in late 2022.
The results of the program evaluation were considered in conjunction with the findings of the extensive literature review and environmental scan. The learnings supported the proposed changes, including a program that will support the practice improvement of regulated members demonstrating practice or competence deficiencies.
Additionally, a need was identified to better recognize the differences between the pharmacy professions, make the CCPs more user friendly, expand the competence assessment processes, and shift the focus from learning and implementing to a more holistic appreciation of a pharmacy professional. The CCPs need to align with the Professionalism Framework to better support regulated members in thinking about their ongoing learning and development from the broad foundation of the tenets of professionalism.
The following documents outline the proposed amendments:
Comments about the draft standards are welcomed prior to 4:30 p.m. MT on Thursday, October 24, 2024. Council will review all feedback received at its next regularly scheduled meeting after the consultation closes. Upon approval of any amendments to the SPCC, renumbering will occur to ensure the accuracy of the standards.
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