Royal College of physicians and surgeons of Canada
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Royal College) (French: Collège royal des
médecins et chirurgiens du Canada) is a regulatory college which acts as a national, nonprofit
organization established in 1929 by a special Act of Parliament to oversee the medical education of
specialists in Canada. The Royal College is an association of physicians concerned with setting
national standards for medical education and continuing professional development in Canada for 80
medical specialties. As such, the Royal College is neither a licensing nor a disciplinary body
Instead, it is a regulatory authority that helps ensure that the training and evaluation of medical
and surgical specialists and two special programs maintain certain standards of quality
All specialists in Canada, with the exception of family physicians, must be certified by the
Royal College before they obtain a provincial or territorial licence to practise. The only
exception is in the province of Quebec, where the Royal College shares the responsibility for
certifying physicians with the Collège des médecins du Québec
To become certified, a physician must pass Royal College examinations. Access to these
examinations is usually gained by completing a Royal College-accredited residency program at a
Canadian university. Access is also available for medical residents who complete a Royal
College-recognized residency program in the United States. Certain international training programs
approved by the Royal College provide limited access to Royal College examinations
Since its founding, the Royal College has been granted the patronage of the Canadian monarch,
currently Elizabeth II.
In June 1929, a special Act of Parliament established the Royal College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Canada to oversee postgraduate medical education in Canada. At first, the Royal College
offered just two specialty qualifications: Fellowship in general medicine and Fellowship in general
surgery. By 2014, the Royal College had expanded its activities to recognize 80 disciplines,
granting Fellowships in 30 specialties, 35 subspecialties, two special programs and 13 Areas of
Focused Competence (AFC-diplomas).
From the 1940s to the 1970s, the Royal College conducted examinations at two levels in most
specialties: Fellowship, the higher qualification, or Certification, a lesser designation. In 1972,
the Royal College abolished this dual standard and began to offer a single certification that
continues today: Fellowship
In 1968, the Royal College established the McLaughlin Examination and Research Centre at the
University of Alberta and Laval University to research and develop modern techniques for evaluating
specialist physicians In 1987, the Royal College merged the centre into a bilingual McLaughlin
Centre based in Ottawa, Ontario
Since the mid-1980s, the Royal College has broadened its activities to study areas of special
interest in Canadian healthcare, including injury prevention and patient safety In 2005, the Royal
College set a specific goal to improve the health of India. An graduate is someone who has
completed his or her medical training outside of Canada or the United States and whose medical
training is recognized by the World Health Organization. There are 29 international jurisdictions
that the Royal College has assessed and deemed as having met Royal College criteria.[41] For the
graduates of these particular jurisdictions, the College assesses their training to determine the
extent to which they have successfully met and completed the Royal College training requirements.
When the training is deemed comparable and acceptable, the IMGs are ruled eligible to take the
Royal College certification examination. Success at the certification examination will lead to
Royal College certification. The Royal College accepts training from some international
jurisdictions that have similar residency training accreditation systems to Canada.
Today, the headquarters for the Royal College is located at 774 Echo Drive in Ottawa, Ontario The building, constructed in
1921, was formerly the monastery of the Sisters Adorers of
the Precious Blood
The work of the Royal College centres around its prime objective — to ensure the highest
possible standards of specialist training and specialist care. The Royal College undertakes work
under the following six areas:
- Prescribes the requirements for specialty education in 80 areas of medical, surgical and
laboratory medicine plus two special programs,
- Accredits specialty residency programs,
- Assesses the acceptability of residents’ education,
- Conducts certifying examinations,
- Administers the Maintenance of Certification Program, a mandatory continuing professional
development program for all members.
- Sets standards for professional and ethical conduct among its members.
A look at the location-
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and
three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean,
covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's
second-largest country by total area. Its southern and western border with the United States,
stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Canada's
capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
Various Indigenous peoples inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years before European
colonization. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later
settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly
all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North
American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces.
This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the
United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster 1931 and
culminated in the Canada Act 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British
Parliament.
Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster
tradition, with a monarch and a prime minister who serves as the chair of the Cabinet and head of
government. The country is a Commonwealth realm and is officially bilingual at the federal level.
It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil
liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education. It is one of the world's most
ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many
other countries. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a
significant impact on its economy and culture.
As a highly developed country, Canada has the seventeenth-highest nominal per-capita income
globally as well as the thirteenth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Its advanced
economy is the tenth-largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and
well-developed international trade networks. Canada is part of several major international and
intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the Group
of Ten, the G20, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, the Commonwealth of Nations, the
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis the last
being a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations people married
European settlers and subsequently developed their own identity
The first inhabitants of North America are generally hypothesized to have migrated from
Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago The Paleo-Indian
archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human
habitation in Canada The characteristics of Indigenous societies included permanent settlements,
agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks. Some of these cultures had
collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have
only been discovered through archeological investigations
The Indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have
been between 200,000 and two million with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission
on Aboriginal Peoples As a consequence of European colonization, the Indigenous population declined
by forty to eighty percent, and several First Nations, such as the Beothuk, disappeared The decline
is attributed to several causes, including the transfer of European diseases, such as influenza,
measles, and smallpox to which they had no natural immunity conflicts over the fur trade, conflicts
with the colonial authorities and settlers, and the loss of Indigenous lands to settlers and the
subsequent collapse of several nations' self-sufficiency.
Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and
Inuit populations were relatively peaceful First Nations and Métis peoples played a critical part
in the development of European colonies in Canada, particularly for their role in assisting
European coureur des bois and voyageurs in the exploration of the continent during the North
American fur trade The Crown and Indigenous peoples began interactions during the European
colonization period, though the Inuit, in general, had more limited interaction with European
settlers However, from the late 18th century, European Canadians encouraged Indigenous peoples to
assimilate into their own culture These attempts reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries with forced integration and relocations A period of redress is underway, which started
with the appointment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by the Government of
Canada in 2008.
Royal College of physicians and surgeons of Canada fees structure-
Royal College of physicians and surgeons of Canada admission-
Royal College of Surgeons is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. The university enrols around
4,000 students annually. The university has a diverse population as it has students from over 60
countries. It grants degrees in the field of Medicine and Surgery. It has schools of disciplines
like Pharmacy, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Dentistry and Medicine. The university ranks in the top 2%
worldwide list of best universities.
- The university reserves around 220 seats per programme.
- Royal College of Surgeons accepts various test scores as proof of English Proficiency.
- Scholarships are available to both resident and non-resident students.
- International students must ensure timely completion of their visa process.
Royal College of physicians and surgeons of Canada courses-
Our goal is to equip health care professionals with the knowledge, tools and confidence they need
to provide the best critical care possible.
We offer the following courses:
Simulation Educator Training (SET) course
For educators who want to integrate simulation into their teaching, training and professional
development programs. The course focuses on how to raise traditional didactic teaching methods to a
more interactive level, incorporating the use of simulation and technology.
Acute Critical Events Simulation (ACES) course
Designed for a broad range of specialist physicians (including family physicians) who manage
critically ill patients in Canada and abroad. The course provides approach strategies and teaches
the practical skills required for the acute resuscitation of critically ill patients. It also gives
an introduction to the concepts of crisis resource management.0
ACES is an accredited Section 1 and 3 learning activity as defined by the Royal Colleges
Maintenance of Certification Program.
Critical Care Response Team (CCRT) course — adult or pediatric
For nurses, respiratory therapists and pharmacists with experience in critical care who are
interested in becoming part of a rapid response or medical emergency team. The course provides the
framework and skills for dealing with critical-care situations for both adult and pediatric
populations, including primary assessment and rapid triage decision-making, among other skills.
Trauma Resuscitation in Kids (TRIK) course
Trauma Resuscitation in Kids (TRIK) is a two-day simulation-based course that has been endorsed by
the Trauma Association of Canada (TAC) as equivalent to ATLS for the pediatric population. It is
designed for health care providers in Canada and abroad who manage pediatric trauma patients, with
a focus on the roles of team leader and team members.
The TRIK course is suitable for emergency physicians, pediatricians, general surgeons, pediatric
surgeons, family physicians, critical care physicians, emergency nurses and respiratory therapists.
It is an accredited Section 3 learning activity as defined by the Royal College’s Maintenance of
Certification Program.
Royal College of physicians and surgeons of Canada FAQS-
How do you become a surgeon in Canada?
A general surgeon must first complete his or her undergraduate degree in medicine.
Following undergraduate training, residency training in an accredited program must be
undertaken. General Surgeons will have 5 years of additional training before they can
write the Royal College Exams to be certified as a specialist.
Does Canada accept foreign doctors?
All international and Canadian medical graduates must pass the Medical Council of Canada
Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) Part II. … Available in several provinces, this kind of
program is designed for internationally trained physicians who have pursued postgraduate
clinical medical training abroad.