College of Family Physicians of Canada

History

The CFPC was founded in 1954 in Vancouver, British Columbia, as the "College of General Practice of Canada" out of a need to ensure family physicians were dedicated to continuing medical education. At inception, it had 400 members, and Victor L. Johnston was the first executive director and remained in office for ten years. The first executive committee and board of representatives consisted of 17 members. In 1964, the College obtained its current name, "The College of Family Physicians of Canada."

Governance

The CFPC is governed by members of the executive committee and the board. The current executive director and chief executive officer is Francine Lemire.

Collaboration with the Medical Council of Canada

In 2013, the CFPC collaborated with the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) to deliver a new "harmonized" certification examination in family medicine. Those who passed the new exam and met all other qualifications of both organizations were awarded both the Licentiate of the MCC (LMCC; the medical license to practise in Canada) and the certification in family medicine designation (CCFP).

Upon review of the harmonized exam, the CFPC determined that the Certification Examination in Family Medicine did not result in the anticipated benefits for the Certification decision. For this reason, starting in 2016 the exams were again run as two separate examinations, as they were before 2013.

Mainpro+

The CFPC runs a program designed to support the continuous professional development of its members called Mainpro+ (Maintenance of Proficiency). This program assesses proposed learning modules and seminars against established standards and awards various types and numbers of credits that physicians can earn by participating in these learning opportunities. Credits are recorded and physicians must meet a standard number and type of credits in order to maintain their certification (CCFP) and fellowship (FCFP) designations.

Canadian Family Physician

The CFPC's official monthly journal is Canadian Family Physician.

Family physicians have the possibility of accumulating MAINPRO credits by "performing brief reflective exercises after reading eligible articles in the journal," thereby contributing to the spread of family medicine stories and experience across the country to the various readers of CFP.

Family Medicine Forum

Each year, the CFPC hosts the Family Medicine Forum (FMF), a national family medicine conference. The conference offers hundreds of clinical and professional development sessions for family physicians over three days in November. The conference is held at varying host cities and provinces each year. The 2016 FMF will be held in Vancouver, BC.

Research and Education Foundation

The Research and Education Foundation of the CFPC was established to provide funding for honours, awards, scholarships, and grants bestowed by the organization to its members. It is a registered charity with the Government of Canada.

Choosing Wisely Canada recommendations

In collaboration with the Canadian Medical Association's Forum on General and Family Practice Issues, CFPC released a list of "Eleven Things Physicians and Patients Should Question" as part of the Choosing Wisely Canada campaign (recommendations 1-5 were released April 2, 2014 and recommendations 6-11 were released October 29, 2014). Canadian specific family medicine recommendations include:

1. Don’t image patients for lower-back pain unless the patient is presenting with red flags.

2. Don’t use antibiotics for patients who have upper respiratory infections that are likely viral in origin, such as influenza-like illness, or self-limiting, such as sinus infections that lasts less than seven days.

3. Don’t order screening chest X-rays and electrocardiograms (ECGs) for patients who are asymptomatic or low risk.

4. Don’t screen women with Pap smears if they are under 21 years of age or over 69 years of age.

5. Don’t do annual screening blood tests for patients unless they are directly indicated by the risk patient's risk profile.

6. Don’t routinely measure Vitamin D in adults who are low risk.

7. Don’t do screening mammography for low-risk women aged 40–49.

8. Don’t do annual physical exams on asymptomatic adults who have no significant risk factors.

9. Don’t order DEXA (Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) screening for osteoporosis on patients who are low-risk.

10. Don’t advise patients with diabetes who do not require insulin to routinely self-monitor blood sugars between office visits.

11. Don’t order thyroid function tests in patients who are asymptomatic.

Enhanced skills programs

The CFPC recognizes several enhanced skills programs that generally last between three and twelve months. These advanced programs are accessible to practicing family physicians as well as Canadian medical residents who are completing their second year of residency in family medicine. In some cases, the enhanced skills program counts as a third year of residency. The following are some existing enhanced skills programs:

Student interest groups in family medicine

Several medical schools in Canada have student interest groups in family medicine, as well as other medical specialties. These student interest groups often organize activities that allow fellow medical students to explore some facets of the medical specialty.

In September 2014, for example, the family medicine student interest group at McGill University hosted the 6th family medicine student symposium. While the conferences took place in the McIntyre Medical Sciences Building, the workshops led by practicing medical doctors and medical residents in family medicine took place in McGill's medical simulation center near the downtown campus.