Section 1 –
Accredited Group Learning Activities

1 credit/activity hour

Eligible activities include conferences, workshops, courses, symposia, journal clubs, rounds and online learning

Large Group
Learning Activities
(live events)

Small Group
Learning Activities
(live events)

Self-Approval Tool Kit

• What is self-approval?
• Summary of the requirements for self-approval
• Forming a planning committee
• Learning strategies
• Evaluation of educational sessions
• Ethical guidelines
• Registering your rounds, journal clubs and small-group learning

Self-Approval Registration Forms

• For rounds, journal clubs or other hospital-based educational events
• For small group learning activities

Web-based
CME events
(interactive)

“This event is an Accredited Group Learning Activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and approved by [accredited provider’s name].”

1 credit/activity hour

Eligible activities include conferences, workshops, courses,
symposia, journal clubs, rounds, online learning,
self-assessment programs and medical simulations

Any of the learning activities identified in Section 1 and 3 that are either not approved by an Accredited Provider or do not meet the requirements for accreditation for their respective section can be claimed under Section 2. 

No attendance or participation documentation is needed to make a claim under this section. 

Allowable credits for this Section are capped
at 100 credits per 5 year cycle.

Section 3 –
Accredited Self-Assessment Programs

2 credits/activity hour

Eligible activities include Q&A materials and medical simulations

Any self-assessment activity which offers detailed feedback that can help you identify professional strengths or gaps in knowledge or skill and has been approved by an Accredited Provider can be claimed under Section 3.

Q&As at the back of some journals like the JAAD are ineligible since they only tell you what you have answered correctly or incorrectly.  They do not provide the necessary detailed feedback about your answer choice required for accreditation.  Self-assessment programs that do not meet established standards for Section 3 can be claimed under Section 2.

For a list of approved activities,
 visit the Royal College web page

Section 4 –
Structured Learning Project

1 credit/activity hour

Any medical or professional learning (CanMEDS) activity is eligible for Section 4.

All that is required to claim these credits is the completion of a simple document on MAINPORT wherein you identify what you wanted to learn, what resources you used to gain this knowledge and what you learned as a result.

Example activities might be reading a few articles to assess whether a new treatment you learned of at a conference would be suitable for some of your patients, taking courses or pursuing a degree to improve a professional interest such as teaching.

For training programs and courses, any additional time put into identifying learning objectives with a supervisor before you start a program and any time spent reviewing and documenting what you learned or would like to learn more about after a program or course is completed are also eligible for credits.

The linked PDF “Making a Personal Learning Project” prepared by Drs Gary Sibbald and Siobhan Ryan is an excellent reference tool with examples on how to complete a Section 4 template.  CLICK HERE to download.

CLICK HERE
for an example of the MAINPORT form

How do you report a Personal Learning Project (PLP)?

If you identified a question stimulated by a patient interaction, spent five hours researching information to answer the question and one hour determining the outcomes for your practice, you can report six hours for this activity under structured learning projects (Section 4) within MAINPORT.

How do you report a traineeship?

You decided to apply a new surgical procedure within your practice and located an expert in the field to be your supervisor. With your supervisor, you spent two hours creating a learning plan with specific objectives. As part of your plan, you read for six hours about the procedure, its advantages and limitations, and which patients are ideal candidates for the procedure. Over the next several weeks, you spent 24 hours in the operating room learning the technique and performing the procedure under supervision. After performing the procedure independently in your practice, you spent an additional four hours with your supervisor performing the procedure under supervision and one hour receiving feedback on the achievement of your learning objectives. To conclude, you took an hour to document you learning outcomes and any additional learning activities you plan to complete. You can report 38 hours for this activity under structured learning projects (Section 4) within MAINPORT.

How do you report courses, fellowships or programs?

You started a master’s program in education and recently completed the course Evaluation in Medical Education that consisted of weekly three-hour seminars over a 12-week period. In addition, you spent one hour developing an evaluation strategy based on the knowledge acquired in the course on how to provide reliable, valid and timely feedback to students or residents based on their observed performance on your ward. At the end of the course, you spent three hours reflecting on and documenting what you learned. You can report 40 hours for this activity under structured learning projects (Section 4) within MAINPORT.

Section 5 –
Personal Practice Review

2 credits/activity hour

Eligible activities include any personal review of your professional practice in comparison with an ideal practice, standard or guideline

Whenever you compare how you manage a disease, disorder or aspect of your practice with an ideal practice, standard or guideline you should consider completing a Section 5 form on MAINPORT.

All that is required for this form is a description of what you reviewed, a summary of your findings, your learning outcome and/or impact on practice and the date of completion. 

Since the aim of this section is to identify if your current practice is the best that it can be, you may also conduct these reviews with your colleagues.  When reviewing the practices of others, your activity time can be reported under Section 2.  If you want to learn more about something as a result of this review, this can be listed as your stimulus for a personal learning project under Section 4.

CLICK HERE
for an example of the MAINPORT form

Section 6 –
Personal Educational Development

1 credit/activity hour

Eligible activities include any personal learning you pursued
to enhance your expertise as an educator, researcher or standard setter

As an educator, any new learning you undertook or any post analysis you conducted to help you improve your effectiveness as a teacher can be claimed under Section 6.  Likewise, as a researcher, any new learning you undertook to help you develop and submit a manuscript for publication or a grant proposal for peer review can be claimed.  And, as a standard setter, any new learning you pursued to improve your ability to set standards such as clinical practice guidelines, hospital policies and/or procedures or examinations can also be claimed under Section 6.

How do you report learning from a teaching session and/or presentation?

Having struggled with teaching effectively in a clinic setting, you decided to spend three hours reviewing and reading articles on the subject. You identified two ideas from the literature and spent three hours implementing these strategies in your clinic during the following week. At the end of the week, you spent an hour reflecting on and documenting the effectiveness of these strategies in the clinic (the outcome). You can report seven hours for this activity under personal educational development (Section 6) within MAINPORT.

Note: If you spent four hours reviewing an area you identified as relevant to your clinical practice to prepare for a lecture, report this as a personal learning project (PLP) under Section 4 stimulated by engaging in teaching activities. Use the topic you identified to form either a question or statement and record the learning resources you used, as well as the outcome obtained. You can report four hours for this activity under structured learning projects (Section 4) within MAINPORT.

How do you report learning from a publication and/or grant proposal?

To develop a research grant that included a mixed-methods strategy, you spent 10 hours reviewing how to develop a semi-structured interview and the strategies to consider for recording interviews. This learning assisted you in developing an interview guide and completing the grant methodology section, totaling an additional 10 hours. You can report 20 hours for this activity under personal educational development (Section 6) within MAINPORT.

How do you report learning from a teaching session and/or presentation?

As a member of a test committee developing a certification exam, you critically appraised literature to select the best strategy to determine a pass/fail decision. You spent 10 hours reading the literature, two hours discussing findings with the test committee meeting and one hour documenting the conclusion reached. You can report 13 hours for this activity under personal educational development (Section 6) within MAINPORT.