Abstracts
Abstract
Introduction: The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) offers the Certificate of Added Competence (CAC) program to designate a family physician with enhanced skills. In 2015, the College expanded its program to introduce enhanced certification in four new domains: Palliative Care, Care of the Elderly, Sports and Exercise Medicine, and Family Practice Anesthesia. In this study, we elicited perceptions from Canadian family physicians with and without the CAC on practice impacts associated with the program.
Methods: Active family physicians in Canada with and without CACs were surveyed between November 2019 to January 2020. Descriptive statistics were generated to describe the perceptions of family physicians regarding the CAC program and its impacts on practice.
Results: Respondents agreed with several benefits of the program including enhancing the capacity to deliver comprehensive care, alleviating the burden of patient travel by increasing the availability of care in rural and remote communities, and providing opportunities to engage in various collaborative care models and new leadership roles. All respondents perceived CAC holders to pursue the certificate to meet both professional interests and community needs.
Conclusions: There is a need for strong and continued investment in systemic practice improvements that incentivize the delivery of comprehensive family medicine practice.
Résumé
Introduction : Le certificat de compétence additionnelle (CCA) accordé par le Collège des médecins de famille du Canada (CMFC) vise à reconnaître un haut niveau de compétences chez un médecin de famille. En 2015, le Collège a élargi le titre de compétences additionnelles à quatre nouveaux domaines : soins palliatifs, soins aux personnes âgées, médecine du sport et de l'exercice, et anesthésie en médecine familiale. Dans cette étude, nous avons recueilli les perceptions de médecins de famille titulaires et non titulaires d’un CCA sur l’influence de pratiques associées au programme de certification.
Méthodes : Des médecins de famille actifs au Canada, titulaires et non titulaires du CCA, ont été interrogés entre novembre 2019 et janvier 2020. Des statistiques descriptives ont été générées pour décrire leurs perceptions concernant le Certificat et ses impacts sur la pratique.
Résultats : Les répondants s’entendaient pour reconnaître au CCA plusieurs avantages, notamment le fait d'améliorer la capacité des médecins à fournir des soins complets, de leur offrir la possibilité de s'engager dans divers modèles de soins collaboratifs et de nouveaux rôles de leadership, et d'alléger le fardeau des déplacements des patients en augmentant la disponibilité des soins dans les populations rurales et éloignées. Tous les répondants estiment que les médecins recherchent l’obtention de ce titre de compétence pour répondre à la fois à leurs intérêts professionnels et aux besoins de la collectivité.
Conclusions : Il faut investir de manière importante et continue dans des améliorations systémiques qui favoriseront une pratique holistique de la médecine familiale.
Appendices
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