PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAM (PDAP)
All pharmacists and pharmacy technicians must participate in professional development activities each year to ensure they continue to provide safe and effective care.
As part of the Quality Assurance Program, set out in the College’s Health Professions Act Bylaws, continuing education is mandatory for all registered pharmacy professionals in order to renew their registration.
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The College’s Quality Assurance Committee provides guidance and recommendations to the College Board, including minimum continuing education requirements, to ensure that registrants are competent to practice and to promote high practice standards amongst registrants.
Learn more about the Quality Assurance Committee.
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The College ensures pharmacy professionals meet the continuing education requirements through the Professional Development and Assessment Program (PDAP) which requires continuing education to be documented and submitted through at least 6 learning records annually. Each pharmacy professional must complete a minimum of 15 hours of continuing education each year, including a minimum of 5 hours of accredited learning.
The Professional Development and Assessment Program is designed to include all different types of learning and reflect that registrants practice in various settings and learn in different ways. Whether it is an accredited course, conference, or self-directed reading, it can be reflected on a learning record and submitted as proof of continuing education.
The program allows pharmacy professionals to submit their continuing education learning records through the PDAP Portal within the College’s secure eServices website or through the new PDAP Mobile app.
Accredited Learning Activities
A minimum of 5 hours of continuing education must be accredited learning. Accredited learning activities have been reviewed using stringent criteria to ensure they are of high quality, unbiased, and clearly identify learning objectives for participants.
Accredited programs indicate the number of accredited hours assigned, and identify the accrediting body (such as CCCEP, UBC CPPD, ACPE, MAINPRO, etc). For accredited courses that may be geared towards physicians or other health care professionals, registrants should reflect on the learning and identify ways to incorporate the knowledge and skills acquired from that course into their daily practice.
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To demonstrate completion of accredited learning hours, an image of supporting documentation for the accredited learning activity needs to be included as part of the learning record submitted to the College. Retain all original supporting documentation for at least 2 years from your registration renewal deadline.
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PDAP Mobile
PDAP Mobile is a mobile app that allows pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to easily enter, edit and submit their required Continuing Education through their Apple or Android mobile device.
At a professional development conference or course? This app makes it easy to document your learnings in real time. Learn how.
PDAP Portal
The PDAP Portal is located within the College’s secure eServices website. It allows registrants to submit continuing education learning records.
There is also an optional self-assessment tool available which helps registrants identify specific learning needs and tailor their professional development activities to meet their needs.
Questions
Have you seen the Professional Development FAQs? Please feel free to contact the College’s Professional Development Department with any remaining questions at ProDev@bcpharmacists.org or (604) 733-2440.
- Continuing Education Audits
CE Audits play an important role in ensuring registrants are successfully completing continuing education and identifying opportunities to improve the Professional Development and Assessment Program.
The College’s Quality Assurance Committee provides guidance and recommendations to the College Board, including minimum Continuing Education (CE) requirements and standards for monitoring and auditing CE submissions for compliance with requirements. This includes establishing the processes for monitoring and auditing CE submissions.
While all CE submissions are automatically verified for completeness through the PDAP Portal, CE audits use a manual process to look at the veracity and consistency of CE submissions and verify that the learning activities entered match the supporting documentation provided.
Pharmacy professionals are selected for CE Audits in the following ways:
- Renewing pharmacy professionals are randomly selected by the PDAP Portal provider
- Renewing pharmacy professionals who have been suspended are automatically audited
- Reinstating pharmacy professionals are automatically audited as CE submissions are a requirement for reinstatement
- Pharmacy professionals identified through previous audits by the QAC
Pharmacy professionals who are found to be non-compliant with the CE requirements may:
- Be asked to provide additional information
- Be asked to re-submit their CE requirements,
- Be selected for next cycle of CE Audits, and/or
- Be referred to the Inquiry Committee if there are reasonable grounds for professional misconduct
- Continuing Education Exemption
If you are on or expect to be on medical, maternity, parental or compassionate care leave, you may be eligible for an exemption.
Complete the Continuing Education Exemption Application Form and provide it to the College’s Professional Development Department at ProDev@bcpharmacists.org to confirm your eligibility.
Please allow at least 5 business days for processing.
You should be aware that if your exemption is not granted by your registration expiry date, you will be subject to the late registration renewal fee.
- Learning Record Examples
Learning Record Examples
The examples are currently under development. Stay tuned.
- PDAP Requirements for Reinstatement
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who are non-practicing and/or have former status are required to complete Continuing Education (CE) requirements in order to be reinstated. Those who wish to be reinstated after being non-practicing and/or former status less than six years must:
- Successfully complete at least 15 hours of learning documented on a minimum of 6 Learning Records per year or partial year of absence (up to 45 hours of learning documented on 18 Learning Records); a minimum of 1/3 (up to 15 hours) must be accredited learning and supporting documentation needs to be provided as part of the Learning Record(s) it pertains to;
- Complete all learning activities in the year immediately prior to application for full registration.
Accredited learning activities have been reviewed using stringent criteria to ensure they are of high quality, unbiased, and clearly identify learning objectives for participants. Accredited programs indicate the number of accredited hours assigned, and identify the accrediting body (such as CCCEP, UBC CPPD, ACPE, MAINPRO, etc.). For accredited courses that may be geared towards physicians or other health care professionals, registrants should reflect on the learning and identify ways to incorporate the knowledge and skills acquired from that course into their daily practice.
Reinstatement applicants may use the PDAP Portal through eServices or the PDAP Mobile application to complete and submit their CE Requirements.
Your CE submissions for reinstatement will require up to 5 business days to review; you will be advised via email of their status, or if additional information is required. Retain all original supporting documentation for at least 2 years from the date you become a full registrant.
For more information on reinstatement, please see the Registration Reinstatement section of the website.
- Other Professional Development Resources / Links
Provincial
BC
ALBERTA
ONTARIO
National
CANADA
US
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