Royal College and CFPC certification is the national mark that a Canadian doctor has completed approved specialty or family medicine training and passed the required exams. It is voluntary, but most doctors earn it because hospitals, employers and patients look for it.
Official website ↗The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada certifies specialists in areas such as neurology, nephrology, oncology and obstetrics and gynecology. Doctors who pass receive the FRCPC for medical specialties or the FRCSC for surgical specialties. The College of Family Physicians of Canada certifies family doctors, who receive the CCFP designation.
Certification is not the same as a licence. To practise medicine, a doctor must also hold a licence from the provincial or territorial college of physicians and surgeons. Certification shows national standards of training and knowledge. The licence gives the legal right to practise in a province or territory.
The exams test both knowledge and practical skills. Royal College exams usually include a written part and an oral or applied part, depending on the specialty. The family medicine exam includes written questions and clinical case scenarios. You must meet the training requirements before you can sit the exam.
Certification does not expire, but you must keep it active by taking part in continuing professional development. This means regular learning activities, such as courses, audits and reviews of your own practice. Both colleges ask doctors to report their activities and meet ongoing requirements to stay in good standing. Doctors who stop doing this can lose their certified status.