FRCPC or not?

[Mourning Cloak]

There's no physician forum, so I thought I'd try this here.

 

I was hoping someone who is an FRCPC could explain membership in the Royal College. Other than getting to use the letters after your name, it doesn't seem to me that you're getting anything for your thousand bucks.

 

Do people really spend a thousand dollars (a year!) for those letters, or is there some real benefit that I'm missing?

[Lactic Folly]

Do you know of any specialist in practice without one (or its equivalent, if an international grad)? I'd be curious if there are any.

[Mourning Cloak]

A few, but not a lot. It's not required for certification, licensure or hospital privileges, and it doesn't MEAN anything in terms of education (other than I paid another extra fee to the College).

 

What I'm wondering is whether there is any point to it (other than flourishing your FRCPC around like a big swinging . . . well, you know ) If the only difference in education / competence / benefit between me and the next guy is that he is $1000 poorer . . . .

 

Then I'd rather keep the money and buy food. Or shoes. Or something. So why doesn't everybody? This this really just peer pressure, or some sort of crazy marketing scheme? There must be an explanation (but I'm afraid to ask in person).

[Lactic Folly]

"Active members are those in full-time or part-time practice who use his/her title and Fellow designation for gain or hire. Active members are entitled to use the FRCSC or FRCPC designation and must participate in the Maintenance of Certification program. In principle, if you are maintaining your licence to practice medicine, you should be maintaining an active membership as a Fellow."

 

Since the Royal College administers our certification exams, most residents I know equate obtaining the FRCPC or FRCSC with successful completion of residency, as the MD was to medical school.

 

From the above paragraph excerpted from the Royal College's website (http://rcpsc.medical.org/membership/member_benefits_e.php), it appears one difference in maintaining the designation is the requirement to participate in MOC. The letters are also shorthand for your specialty training.. if all you have is MD (sans lapsed FRCPC), I surmise that some further explanation would be necessary as to the fact that you are actually qualified as a specialist, and that you chose not to participate in their MOC program.

[thebouque]

What I'm wondering is whether there is any point to it (other than flourishing your FRCPC around like a big swinging . . . well, you know ) If the only difference in education / competence / benefit between me and the next guy is that he is $1000 poorer . . . .

 

T

 

I'm pretty sure that this 1000 bucks is a none issue since you can probably have it deducted from your taxes... and you're going to be an MD specialist.

[Mourning Cloak]

I'm pretty sure that this 1000 bucks is a none issue since you can probably have it deducted from your taxes... and you're going to be an MD specialist.

 

Yeah, but does anybody know what I'm paying that $1000 for?

 

Or, an alternative question, does anybody know how I could go about asking this question (preferably anonymously) of practicing specialists?

[A-Stark]

Why not look at the website?

[Mourning Cloak]

I did. They list the benefits as:

 

1) the right to use the FRCPC or FRCSC designation that signifies to patients, peers and regulatory authorities that you have met the highest standards of specialty training and continue your commitment through lifelong learning; your name in the Directory of Fellows a highly respected and visible listing that confirms your status;

2) automatic enrollment in the Maintenance of Certification program, a continuing professional development commitment that helps members organize, document and evaluate their individual learning plan while demonstrating transparency and accountability to the public, peers and regulators;

3) representation of your interests to important health care partners, influencers and decision-makers to unite the best views on how to improve specialty medicine and remove obstacles to your work of keeping Canadians healthy;

4) the opportunity to influence the direction of specialty medicine through voting, serving on committees and exam boards, standing for elected office and participating in surveys;

5) affiliation with like-minded professionals at events, conferences and through other forms of engagement with the Royal College;

6) staying informed on relevant matters, through members-only communications and the royalcollege.ca website;

7) having accomplishments recognized and rewarded, as a nominator or recipient, through the Awards and Grants program that distributes over $1 million annually; and

8) personalized support through the Membership Services Centre, which answers your questions related to continuing professional development activities and responds to your membership needs.

 

Which is a whole lot of nothing as far as I can tell.

 

I can't imagine why anyone signs up for this, but I can't think of a way of asking anybody who might know (e.g. actual members) without pissing them off. It would have been great to be able to get an answer via an anonymous post, but as I feared, there aren't any attendings on these forums

[bloh]

In the grand scheme of things 1000$ isn't a lot and I'm sure a lot of people get at least some pride from putting those after their name. To put it another way, if you had to pay $1000 to get the MD designation after your name, would you pay for it even if you didn't need it to practice medicine?

[Mourning Cloak]

In the grand scheme of things 1000$ isn't a lot and I'm sure a lot of people get at least some pride from putting those after their name. To put it another way, if you had to pay $1000 to get the MD designation after your name, would you pay for it even if you didn't need it to practice medicine?

 

I wouldn't (I'd rather buy a pair of strappy Ferragamos), but I see what you're saying.

[Lactic Folly]

As I alluded to in another thread, it is one designation that separates fully qualified physicians from residents. For example, if several authors are listed in a journal article, the person who has MD (sans FRCPC) after their name is often a resident.

 

Rather than asking attending physicians, it might be more interesting to speak to hospital administrators and hiring groups and find out what value they place on the FRCPC.

[Mourning Cloak]

Rather than asking attending physicians, it might be more interesting to speak to hospital administrators and hiring groups and find out what value they place on the FRCPC.

 

I've asked the local hospitals / health regions, and it is not a requirement for hospital privileges. What they want is (of course) is that you passed your Royal College exams, are fully and independently licensed by the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons, have clean certificates of standing from any provincial Colleges where you held license (for example, where you did residency), are a member of the provincial physicians organization e.g. the OMA, as well as a member of the CMA and have your CMPA in place. Oh yeah, good letters of reference, too. I think that's everything.

 

I haven't surveyed local groups.

 

I think Bloh might be right: it's a status symbol bought and paid for (just like my strappy Ferragamos, I suppose). It's a good thing med school and residency is nine years long - it's going to take me a while to get my mind around this.

[Lactic Folly]

What they want is (of course) is that you passed your Royal College exams, are fully and independently licensed by the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons, have clean certificates of standing from any provincial Colleges where you held license (for example, where you did residency), are a member of the provincial physicians organization e.g. the OMA, as well as a member of the CMA and have your CMPA in place.

That's curious - why would they want you be a member of the OMA/CMA? I see these as political/advocacy organizations, whereas the Royal College at least has more of an educational focus.

[Mourning Cloak]

That's curious - why would they want you be a member of the OMA/CMA? I see these as political/advocacy organizations, whereas the Royal College at least has more of an educational focus.

 

I'm not sure why you need to be a member of the provincial doctors association (in addition to the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons). There's never any explanation for why - they just tell you that you do.

[G.O.B]

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[moo]

It makes no difference except to have those letters behind your name and to signal to the world that you are a fellow of the RCPC. This may be important in academic settings, but in private practice, nobody cares.

 

However, in BC they recently started this thing where you have to maintain a certain number of CME credits over 5 years and they require you to report these credits to either the RC or the CFPC. Membership is not essential, but you end up still paying fees to either the RC or the CFPC (for the CFPC I think it's about 300 dollars, whereas full membership is about 600 if I remember correctly--I just pay it and don't really remember how much it was).

 

For me, I'll probably end up dropping the CFPC designation, as I'll report my CME credits to the RC, unless the College of P&S require that I also keep getting family medicine CME to keep working as a family doctor (which I plan to do).

[weakenedwarrior]

One can be certified by the Royal College without being an actual member....and that's what is most important....completing a recognized residency and passing the exams. Membership is just expensive fluff so far as I am concerned. I personally don't agree with a lot of the policies of the Royal College and have chosen to terminate my membership.

 

I'm a strong proponent of CME. Who in the medical profession isn't? The MOC program, however, was the last straw...a complete and utter farce. It presumes that one cannot maintain competence in one's chosen profession without having a stick held over one's head. Really pretty juvenile when you think about it. I've been in practice now for twenty-six years (what am I doing on the forum....on-call and killing time between "incoming").

 

Licensing bodies are moving towards the requirement for documented CME for license renewal so I find the point moot anyway.

 

In this day of "evidence based medicine", I find the the complete lack of evidence to support the stated goals of the MOC program pretty funny. Other than the MOC (IF you would find that useful) and the dubious privelege of adding a few more letters after your name, membership is pretty useless.

[guestpass2010]

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