Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators

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Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators

• Qualification RecognitionTowards A Mutual
  Recognition?
• 2 June 2006 San José , Costa Rica Tabasom
  Eftekari
• Director of Credentialing

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Overview of Presentation

• What are the connections between the education of
  a Canadian Physiotherapist and The Alliance?
• Features of Qualification Recognition and current
  issues in evaluating credentials and
  qualifications
• Who accredits the Canadian Physiotherapy
  Education programs?
• What will be the potential benefit of a Mutual
  Recognition Agreement?

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Definitions

• Qualification recognition
• A process of evaluating documentary evidence
  provided by an applicant to determine if his or
  her qualifications are sufficiently similar to
  the established or published standard in the
  receiving country or jurisdiction

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Definitions

• Substantially equivalent
• The degree to which the qualifications are
  highly similar
• Competencies
• Knowledge, skills and abilities obtained through
  various types of learning to perform the
  occupational tasks and duties.

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Definitions

• Accredited
• A process to determine that a program or service
  meets a certain level of performance or standard

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What are the connections between the education of
a Canadian physiotherapist and The Alliance?

• The mission of The Alliance is to facilitate the
  sharing of information and build consensus on
  national issues in order to assist member
  organizations in fulfilling their mandate of
  protecting the public interest
• The Alliance is a national federation of
  physiotherapy regulators in Canada
• The Alliance Evaluation programs established in
  1994 in response to a variety of issues and
  objectives

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What are the connections between the education of
a Canadian physiotherapist and The Alliance?

• The Alliance Evaluations include
• Credentialing of Internationally educated
  physiotherapists
• Assessment of Educational Credentials
• Language Proficiency
• Licensure Verification
• Authentication
• Prior Learning Assessment and Remediation
• Physiotherapy Competency Exam
• Written Component
• Clinical Component

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What are the connections between the education of
a Canadian physiotherapist and The Alliance?

• The Alliance is a member on the Accreditation
  Council for Canadian Physiotherapy Academic
  Programs (ACCPAP) since 1995

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What are the connections between the education of
a Canadian physiotherapist and The Alliance?

• The Alliance a partner in a collaborative project
  to develop the model of physiotherapy education
  in Canada (Physiotherapy Entry-level Education
  Project)

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What are the connections between the education of
a Canadian physiotherapist and The Alliance?

• The Alliance uses the Canadian educational
  minimums as the basis for the credentialing
  program

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Features of Qualification Recognition and
current issues in evaluating credentials and
qualifications

• Title
• Intent of education
• Outcome of education
• Education system and process
• Context of practice

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Title

• Titles are similar around the world
• But---
• Similar title does not mean similar
  education/practice
• Different does not mean different
  education/practice

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Intent of Education

• The intent of both preparatory and
  professional/physiotherapy education systems are
  variable
• internationally
• The intent of education in the country of
  education might differ widely from that of the
  receiving country

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Educational Systems and Processes

• This understanding is a good example of lifelong
  learning!
• Very complex, is so dependent on an understanding
  of culture, politics

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Context of Practice

• The education of physiotherapists for practice
  and the practice by physiotherapists within a
  health system are integrated elements designed to
  meet the health needs of a countrys citizens.

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Issues

• Variation in entry level education
• Nature and type of program
• Documentation
• Language
• Quality assurance
• Membership
• Fraud/corruption

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Who accredits the Canadian Physiotherapy
Education programs

• The Accreditation Council for Canadian
  Physiotherapy Academic Programs (ACCPAP) assures
  the quality of physiotherapy education in Canada
  through accreditation
• ACCPAP ensures this by considering the
  entry-level education curriculum and essential
  competencies in standard development

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Mutual Recognition Agreements? Potential
Benefits

• Reduce bureaucracy
• Simplify the review of academic qualifications
  for licensure
• Public recognition
• Common understanding of the physiotherapy
  profession amongst countries
• Simplify Canadian physiotherapist access to
  practice in partner countries
• Strengthening networks between competent
  authorities

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Thank You!Gracias