Thank you to everyone who joined us for our webinars about the College’s Quality Assurance Program, including the Professional Development Portfolio. If you missed the webinar, or if you’d like to revisit part of the presentation, please take a look at the uploaded recording below.
Our website has a lot of information about the Professional Development Portfolio and the expectations of midwives reporting. We’ve also compiled some of the Q&A from our webinar below. If you have any additional questions or would like further clarity please email qap@cmo.on.ca.
Q&A from our Live Webinar
If I have previously submitted case reviews in 2022 and 2023, do they count towards my three-year case review numbers?
Yes. Please ensure that you have documented each case review which you have attended over the course of your three-year reporting cycle.
What counts as proof of completing a learning activity?
Midwives are professionals; we expect that you will complete your activities and report them accurately. We trust that midwives who state they attended or completed a learning activity truly did so.
For example, if you attend a webinar as a learning activity, a screenshot of your registration, information about the source of the webinar and the speakers, as well as date, length, and platform information are all reasonable ways to show you attended the learning activity. When you reflect on what you learned from the webinar as part of your documentation of completion of your learning goal, you can also provide details to show that you were in attendance, by referencing the material or information shared.
Are practice administration-related learning goals appropriate for the PDP?
Definitely! One aspect of professional development for midwives is the working environment. Learning goals related to team building, communication, conflict resolution, and change management are all in line with appropriate learning goals. As long as you feel they relate to midwifery, and you have related learning activities, this is a great option
Can I count other sources of learning towards my Learning Goals?
Yes. The QAP does not specify where, why, or how you decide to engage in learning activities. If you are completing learning activities which are relevant to your learning goals as a midwife, you can use these activities in attaining your learning goals, even if you are doing these activities for another purpose in addition to the QAP.
Do I need to present a case review in order for it to “count”? What if there are more than one cases presented at a single review?
No. The expectation is that a midwife attends a specific number of case reviews over the three year reporting cycle. You do not need to present case reviews. Case reviews are counted by the number of cases themselves; if you attend a session with three midwifery practices, and each practice presents two cases, that would count as six complete case reviews.
How do I record number of participants at a virtual case review or rounds presentation? It’s challenging to confirm number of attendees when there are a lot of people present/off-camera etc.
We had a number of questions about this in the webinar and in response, we’ve updated our case review form on the website to make it clear all we require is two or more practice groups participate in midwifery peer reviews. The new form is on our website here. If you have already filled out an older version of the form we will still accept previous versions of the form.
What happened to Quality of Care Evaluation forms? Are QCE’s no longer part of the QAP?
You are correct. The requirement for practices to collect peer and client feedback now lies under the Professional Standards for Midwives, and not the QAP. Midwifery practice groups and EMCMs can develop their own method of obtaining client feedback in order to inform and drive quality improvement at the practice level.
Why do midwives registered in the inactive class still need to participate in the QAP?
The Quality Assurance Regulation under the Midwifery Act, 1991 states that all registrants must complete the QA program.
Do inactive midwives still need to attend case reviews?
There are different expectations for completing case reviews for midwives in the inactive class, depending on the total number of months in which they were registered in the general class over the three year reporting cycle. We’ve posted the table on our website here.
Does the College provide exemptions from the QAP due to barriers created by personal situations?
Yes. There is an exemption form which is available to all midwives. You can complete and submit your exemption form for review by the Quality Assurance Committee. Please note that you may be granted a complete or partial exemption, or not granted an exemption following your application. As such, we recommend submitting requests for exemptions at any time in the three-year cycle, in order for you to have time to respond to requests for further information from the QAC, or potentially meet QAP requirements should you not be granted a full exemption. At this time, there are no extensions provided to complete the QAP.