The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia will no longer be offering their Clinician Assessment for Practice Program (CAPP) examination, and has cancelled the June 2015 exam.
CAPP dates back to 2005, when it was established to support practice-ready international medical graduates who did not have any additional formal residency training in Canada. The program created a pathway so they could receive provisional licensure in order to practice — under supervision — in underserviced communities while they worked towards full licensure.
Physicians who are currently licensed through CAPP will not be affected by this closure, and will continue to receive support while in practice.
The College’s Council decided to close the program on March 27, after its annual quality assurance evaluation — describing CAPP’s exams as requiring “huge investments of energy,” making them no longer justifiable.
The Medical Council of Canada (MCC) and the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada (FMRAC) have defined new pan-Canadian standards for practice-ready assessment. It’s expected that the National Assessment Collaboration ‐ Practice Ready Assessment (NAC-PRA) will soon take over the task of identifying international medical graduates for supervised practice.
