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Looking back at registrants’ adherence to Practice Hours and Continuing Competency Credit requirements in previous reporting cycle

The previous CSHBC cycle for reporting required Practice Hours and Continuing Competency Credits (CCCs) concluded December 31, 2021. Most CSHBC registrants met the requirements for these two modules of the College’s Quality Assurance & Professional Practice (QAPP) Program.

The three-year reporting cycles for Practice Hours and CCCs are aligned. The current cycle for Practice Hours and CCCs runs from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2024. The previous cycle ran from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021. The following is an overview of registrants’ adherence to meeting Practice Hours and CCCs requirements in the previous cycle.

Practice Hours

The cycle that ended December 31, 2021, marked the completion of the first cycle requiring registrants to report Practice Hours.

For a full three-year cycle, 750 Practice Hours are required for a registrant’s primary registration. Because amended Bylaws pertaining to Practice Hours did not come into force until June 2020, CSHBC pro-rated the requirement to 360 Practice Hours for a primary registration. This was required in a pro-rated reporting period from July 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021.

The majority of registrants were able to meet this requirement. There were 234 registrants who were deficient in Practice Hours as of December 31, 2021. The majority of these cases involved registrants who did not report completed Practice Hours on time, and they were resolved.

As a condition of registration renewal, registrants unable to meet Practice Hours requirements are required to submit a Practice Hour deficiency plan and pay a deficiency plan fee.  Deficiency plans must be approved by the College prior to the end of the registration year on March 31. In the deficiency plan, registrants must provide information about why there is a deficiency and how it will be remediated. 

Primary reasons for Practice Hours deficiencies in the previous cycle that registrants submitted included disruptions caused by COVID-19, maternity leave, sick leave, and other reasons. CSHBC approved exceptions for 48 registrants, allowing them to report 360 hours over the entire three-year cycle. The number of exceptions represented 2% of total registrants.

Continuing Competency Credits

RAUDs, RHIPs, and RSLPs who are registered at the beginning of a cycle must report 45 CCCs by the end of the cycle. For those registered at any time during the current cycle, the CCCs requirement is pro-rated.

There were 134 registrants who were deficient in CCCs as of December 31, 2021. The majority of these cases involved registrants who did not report completed CCCs on time, and they were resolved.

As another condition of registration renewal, registrants unable to meet the CCCs requirement at the end of a reporting cycle must submit a CCCs deficiency plan and pay a deficiency plan fee.  Deficiency plans must be approved by the College prior to the end of the registration year on March 31st. No exceptions for CCCs deficiencies were required in the previous cycle.

“Each plan is considered on a case-by-case basis, as every registrant’s situation is unique,” says Mardi Lowe, Senior Practice Advisor and former Director, Quality Assurance & Professional Practice about Practice Hours and CCCs deficiency plans. “CSHBC supports its registrants in working through their deficiency plans to ensure public trust in knowing speech and hearing professionals in BC have recent knowledge and practice in their profession.” 

CSHBC continues to track and update records for registrants who have filed deficiency plans, and the College takes action on any registrants who have not met the College’s QAPP Program requirements as a condition of licensure under the CSHBC Bylaws.

College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of British Columbia

Address:
900 – 200 Granville St
Vancouver, BC, V6C 1S4

Phone: 604.742.6380
Toll-free: 1.888.742.6380
Email: [email protected]