The College recently published revisions to the Advertising and Communication with the Public practice standard prompted by recent amendments to section 7-4 of the College Bylaws. The revisions specifically clarify the proper use of the title "specialist" and how to advertise a "focused area of practice."
The College sought feedback from registrants to assess clarity and applicability to practice, and from the public to identify patient expectations of physicians and surgeons when advertising. The consultation occurred from September 1 to September 15, 2022 and a total of 102 registrants and 26 members of the public participated.
Following the consultation, these revisions were made to the practice standard:
- Added a new section on “use of the term specialist” to align with College Bylaws.
- Added a new section on “office signage” to align with section 7-4(7) of the College Bylaws.
- Edited for gender neutral language.
- Removed the requirement for advertisements to be supported by research as this can be challenging to hold registrants accountable to, given the number of treatment modalities and evolving research.
The practice standard was endorsed for publication by the Executive Committee on October 21, 2022. An additional resource for registrants was also published to provide further context to the newly added sections.
The College also recently published revisions to the Independent Medical Examinations practice standard following an internal review.
The following sentence was added to the practice standard for greater clarity:
- “Registrants are expected to assume responsibility in ensuring the examinee understands the specific purpose of their examination.”
The practice standard was endorsed for publication by the Executive Committee on October 21, 2022.
Questions regarding the revised practice standards can be directed to communications@cpsbc.ca.