Waiver of Training in Family Medicine

On behalf of Dr. Dominique Pilon, outgoing Chair of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC)’s Board of Examinations and Certification (BEC), I am writing to advise you that, effective immediately, the BEC is no longer accepting requests for a waiver of training in family medicine using the special form and process introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This process allowed a program director to waive up to 12 selected weeks of a resident’s educational experience out of the required 24 months of training in family medicine, holidays excepted, if that resident was unable to gain certain educational experiences due to a COVID-19 illness or restrictions. 

The BEC has reinstituted the waiver of training process used prior to the pandemic. A program director must apply directly to the BEC, via a written submission through ccfpexam@cfpc.ca, for consideration of any waiver of training, which will only be granted under exceptional circumstances. The maximum allowable training time that can be waived for any resident is four weeks.

A resident transferring into a family medicine residency program from a Royal College specialty residency can still have up to six months (i.e., 24 weeks) of training recognized as equivalent. This is not considered a waiver of training by the BEC. The decision of equivalency rests with the family medicine program director and does not need to be reviewed by the BEC. 

For any questions or guidance, please contact me at bkvern@cfpc.ca.

Sincerely,

Dr Brent Kvern
Director, Certification and Examinations