Notices to the Professions

Notice to the Professions /
Supervising Certified Practice Certificate applicants: supervisors must meet criteria and commit to taking on substantial responsibility

There are specific criteria registrants must meet before supervising an applicant for a Certified Practice (CP) certificate. Registrants should be aware that serving as a CP supervisor involves substantial responsibility.

Certified Practice

Before registrants can perform practices prescribed as higher-risk by the Ministry of Health, and therefore requiring certification, they must meet above entry level requirements for knowledge, skills, and abilities, under the supervision of one or more qualified supervisors.

See the Certified Practice & Above Entry Level Practice standard of practice (PDF).

CP supervisor requirements

As outlined in the Supervision clinical practice standard (PDF), in order for a registrant to be qualified to supervise an applicant for a CP certificate, the proposed supervisor must meet criteria including the following:

  • The registrant (proposed supervisor) currently holds the same certificate the applicant for a CP certificate is applying for;
  • The registrant (proposed supervisor) has held the applicable certificate for at least six months;
  • The registrant (proposed supervisor) has Full registration with CSHBC or with another health regulatory college in BC.
  • Proposed supervisors registered with a regulatory body outside of BC may be considered qualified supervisors if they meet additional requirements, including pre-approval by the Registration Committee as outlined in the Supervision clinical practice standard (PDF).
  • Proposed supervisors must declare they are competent and have the necessary skills to provide supervisory oversight and have the area of practice of the applicable certificate within their scope of practice.

Applicant responsibility

It is the responsibility of the registrant completing a certification program to ensure their supervisor is appropriately qualified. Applicants training under an unqualified supervisor constitutes unlawful practice, subject to investigation and potential discipline by CSHBC.

CP supervisor responsibility

Each certification program that a Certified Practice applicant must complete to obtain certification requires graduated levels of supervision. As defined in CSHBC’s Supervision clinical practice standard (PDF), supervision levels include:

  • Constant supervision: where the supervisee may not engage in clinical activities unless the supervisor is in attendance.
  • Close supervision: where there is a sufficiently close proximity between supervisor and supervisee that a supervisor may attend in person at the request of either the supervisor or supervisee.
  • General supervision (remote supervision): where the supervisor is accessible to a supervisee (by telephone, email, or virtually) but does not attend in person.

A registrant supervisor, and their supervisee applying for a CP certificate, must adhere to the levels of supervision outlined in the applicable certification program. They may extend the level of supervision for any objective(s) in the program beyond required levels by mutual agreement.

Supervisor signatures and initials

For each of the College’s 10 CP certificates, there is a Certification Program form that the CP applicant and supervisor(s) must complete. On the first page of each form, signatures of supervisors for a CP certificate applicant must be included. Each form also lists program objectives for the certification program. Next to each objectives, the supervisor’s initials must be included after applicants have met the objectives. 

“Supervisors for Certified Practice applicants need to be aware of what it means when they put their signature and initials on the forms, in terms of responsibility for the individuals they’re supervising,” says Cathy Silversides, CSHBC Director, Quality Assurance & Professional Practice. “They [the supervisors] are ultimately declaring that the registrant has met those objectives, and they are safe and competent to practise those higher risk areas. For Certified Practice supervisors, it’s a considerable amount of responsibility.”

Moving forward

CSHBC will be introducing a pre-approval process for registrants applying for CP certificates that will enhance the process. CSHBC will communicate to registrants details of the process in due course.

For more information

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]