Membership Meeting Questions 2020
On November 21, the College held the annual membership meeting that was postponed earlier in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Close to 250 people attended this entirely virtual event, which also featured two education sessions.
We would like to take the opportunity now to address some of the questions that were asked before and during the membership meeting. While we reached out to attendees directly with responses where possible, most questions we received referred to the same topics and we therefore felt it was important to be transparent and share the information with all our members.
College fees
Members of the College are understandably concerned about registration fees increasing, so we would like to reiterate that College fees continue to be the same since they were last increased in 2016. The work of the College has become increasingly complex in recent years, and we are proud of the fact that despite this, our registration fees continue to be some of the lowest in Alberta.
Regulators vs. associations
We often receive queries that indicate there is some confusion about the role of a regulatory body like the College versus an association like the CAMRT and Sonography Canada. Each type of organization performs different functions, but all activities are rooted in one important distinction: a regulator acts in the best interest of the public, while an association acts in the best interest of its members.
The following chart highlights some of the differences between the role of a regulator and the role of an association in Alberta.
| Aspect | Regulatory (e.g., ACMDTT) | Association (e.g., CAMRT, Sonography Canada) |
|---|---|---|
| Mandate | Acts in the best interest of the public. | Acts in the interest of the members of a profession. |
| Accountability | Is accountable to the public through the provincial government. | Is accountable to its members. |
| Activities | Sets the scope of practice, Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice and entry-to-practice requirements legally defined by the Health Professions Act for the practice of a profession. | Serves and supports its members through education, advocacy, professional liability insurance and member benefits. |
| Registration vs. membership | Registers members based on legislated criteria. Membership is mandatory to practice. | Accepts members based on association determined criteria. Membership is voluntary. |
| Permit vs. certification | Issues permits, which are legally required to practice in the jurisdiction. | Issues certification, which encompasses criteria to enter into practice. |
| Qualifications | Sets registration requirements (education, experience, testing to verify competence to practice). | Creates and facilitates certification examinations. |
| Competency profiles | Approves or selects the competency profile(s) for a profession. | Maintains competency profile(s) for a profession. |
| Continuing education | Requires members to participate in legislated programs to ensure continuing competence. | Provides members with opportunities for continuing education. |
| Standards of practice vs. enhancement of practice |
Sets legal standards of practice to ensure safe, competent and ethical service for the public. | Provides opportunities to augment competency for members seeking to expand their practice. |
| Protected titles vs. credentials | Establishes professional titles protected in legislation that inform the public of authorized practitioners — e.g., MRT(R), MRT(T), MRT(NM), MRT(MR), ENP, DMS. Practitioners must use these titles in their practice. | Issues credentials to those who have completed the certification (credential) requirements — e.g., RTR, RTT, RTNM, RTMR, RET, CRGS, CRCS, CRVS. Practitioners choose to use these titles in their practice. |
| Enforcement of standards | Has a legislated complaints and discipline processes in place to address complaints from the public and professional conduct issues. | Provides support to members through offering professional liability insurance (PLI). |
| Advocacy | Performs no overt advocacy work. It collaborates with government, professionals and the public to ensure safe, competent and ethical care. | Advocates for the profession in order to effect changes to service delivery, to develop specialty certificates and to increase public awareness of professional services. |
Health colleges are established under the Health Professions Act (HPA) in Alberta. Once a person has been admitted to a health profession, their governing college has an ongoing obligation to the public to ensure that its members remain competent and continue to meet professional and ethical standards. While associations may perform functions that support the mandate of public protection (e.g., issuing certification, providing continuing education opportunities), their focus is on the benefits for their members. MRTs and ENPs have to be members of the College to practice their profession; however, they may choose to be members of their associations.
The distinction between regulators and associations will become even more important when Bill 46 is proclaimed, which is expected to happen soon. Bill 46 includes several amendments to the HPA, and one of the most relevant for our organization states that colleges will no longer be permitted to perform the functions of an association. This means the College will need to review and possibly discontinue membership services like the annual conference in 2021.
With all the changes on the horizon, we would like to stress that while our mandate as a health college is to protect the public, members of the College also benefit from being part of a regulated profession. MRTs and ENPs participate in defining and maintaining standards of practice and professionalism within their chosen occupation, allowing for increased confidence in their professional abilities and competencies. Having a regulatory body to establish and administer standards for registration and practice protects the public from incompetent and unqualified practitioners, which in turn makes the profession more highly respected.
Additional and enhanced practice authorizations
Members have to renew additional and enhanced practice authorizations every year when they renew their practice permit, and we have received questions from members about why they need to renew their authorizations as well as why they need additional training for certain authorizations in the first place.
The College has approval for members to perform some/all of the restricted activities, as identified in the Medical Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technologists Profession Regulation (the Regulation). Restricted activities for medical diagnostic and therapeutic technologists can be found on the Additional and Enhanced Practice Authorization page.
Enhanced practice is when a technologist performs restricted activities that are not primarily authorized for the area of practice in which they are registered. An example of this would be a radiological technologist preparing or administering medication. This role requires the technologist to be authorized in restricted activities not primarily a principal expectation of practice for radiological technologists.
Additional authorizations differ from enhanced practice in that the additional competencies/restricted activities are included in the specialty’s section of the regulation and additional authorization can be achieved by a technologist upon successful completion of advanced training approved by Council. An example of additional authorization is venipuncture. Radiological technologists, magnetic resonance technologists and radiation therapists do not have the authorization to perform the restricted activity of venipuncture; however, the Regulation provides that they may perform venipuncture when they have completed advanced training approved by the College and received notification from the Registrar.
The College recognizes that venipuncture is a restricted activity that is taught in MRT education programs and practiced widely by our members. The College has requested that the provincial government amend the Regulation to remove the necessity for an additional authorization process for venipuncture; however, this amendment must be approved by the government to take effect.
Regulation of diagnostic medical sonographers
In addition to questions from current regulated members of the College, we received questions from diagnostic medical sonographers (DMSs) about the status of regulation of their profession. We are currently waiting for Alberta Health to amend the Regulation under the HPA, which will direct our college to regulate DMSs within Alberta. Mandatory registration/regulation of DMSs will start once the regulation comes into effect.
When Bill 46 is proclaimed, the government is likely to turn its attention to college-specific matters in the spring and fall next year. We understand that the changes in Bill 46 will allow the Minister of Health to expedite modernizing and updating the regulations, and we are doing our best to work with the government to bring about the regulation of sonographers as soon as possible.
Other questions
The membership meeting presented an opportunity for us to address some of our members’ concerns, but we are happy to help at any time if you have any questions about the College. Please feel welcome to reach out to us by email at info@acmdtt.com or by phone at 780.487.6130 or 1.800.282.2165.
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