reports from council
ernment’ s updated regulations governing the medical use of marijuana. Under the updated regulations, patients are now permitted to access marijuana in forms other than dried, including fresh buds and leaves, and cannabis oil. Patients are also now permitted to apply to Health Canada for authorization to grow their own supply of marijuana plants, or to designate someone to grow plants for them. The new regulations do not change the role of the physician in authorizing patient access to marijuana for medical purposes. As before, physicians are still required to complete a medical document which is effectively equivalent to a prescription. The complete revised policy is available online.
Registration Policy Change Council has approved the Registration Committee’ s recommendation to revise the existing Restricted Certificates of Registration for Exam Eligible Candidates policy to provide increased clarity regarding exam eligibility and subsequent applications. This would allow extensions only in exceptional circumstances. The policy was originally designed to provide physicians three years to complete any outstanding examinations. The Committee has routinely approved requests from physicians to extend their restricted certificates of registration beyond three years to allow them to continue to write their outstanding examinations. Recent changes from the certifying bodies, however, put the College in a position where it was at risk of creating a permanent supervised class of certificate for individuals who continue to be unsuccessful in their attempts at completing the required examinations.
Changes to OHPIP Standards Council has approved the revised draft Out of Hospital Premises Inspection Program( OHPIP) standards. The proposed changes to the standards document were circulated for external consultation last summer. Only specific sections of the OHPIP Standards that reference the role of the Medical Director were updated, including responsibilities related to infection control and quality assurance. Stakeholders, in general, expressed support for the proposed changes.
Proposed $ 30 membership fee increase After reviewing the proposed budget for 2017, Council has recommended a $ 30 fee increase. This increase would bring the fee that a physician pays to renew a practice Certificate of Registration for independent practice from $ 1,595 to $ 1,625. Over the past five years, the College has increased the membership fee for an independent practice certificate by $ 75. This represents an average of 1.2 % over those five years.
12
Dialogue Issue 4, 2016