Continuing education is an essential verification that a member has made efforts to enhance their skills and knowledge and remain up to date with the best practices in their field. To remain a member in good standing of the BCVTA, members must acquire a minimum of fifteen (15) credits per year unless otherwise determined by registration status (see BCVTA Bylaw Article 2: Membership).
Members are expected to maintain records of all submitted continuing education documents for a minimum of three (3) collection periods for audit purposes. Random audits of continuing education records will be conducted by the BCVTA CE Committee annually. Failure to maintain appropriate CE credits may affect registration status.
Continuing Education courses/programming should optimally:
- Address regional and contemporary needs of RVTs;
- Be educational and relevant to the member’s area of professional activity;
- Include activities that stimulate the development of non-technical professional skills such as practice management, self-care, emotional regulation, professionalism and ethics, critical thinking, communication, and mindfulness;
- Identify specific learning outcomes; and
- Provide documentation of satisfactory completion.
RACE approved CE sessions are automatically eligible for CE credits at the amount provided on the certificate of completion, as do any sessions provided by a Canadian Veterinary Technologist Association, and the veterinary college governing bodies.
Generally, programs with the following content may be considered appropriate:
- Relevant to animal health or welfare;
- Relevant to practice management, communications or leadership;
- Relevant to professional ethics;
- Relevant to safety on the job, or any skill required to work as an RVT (examples here WHMIS, boat safety, chainsaw safety, radiation safety, first-aid, etc.);
- Mental health and wellness to address and prevent challenges that are prevalent in veterinary medicine;
- Complementary and integrative medicine topics where topics are applicable to veterinary medicine;
BCVTA accepts continuing education credits from a variety of activities that can be divided into one of two categories: education activities or outreach and volunteer activities. Education activities are things such as conferences, webinars, or lunch and learn events, whereas outreach and volunteer activities may include participation at a community health care clinic, serving on an executive board, or serving on a BCVTA committee. Learning opportunities that do not specify the number of credits will be calculated at 1 credit/hour.
Some activities qualify for a specific amount of credits, including the following:
|
Activity |
Credit Amount |
|
Education Activities |
|
|
Veterinary technology program graduation and successful completion of the Veterinary Technician National Exam |
30 credits |
|
Successful completion of a specialty certification |
30 credits |
|
Attendance at the BCVTA annual general meeting |
1 credit |
|
Presenter/speaker/workshop facilitator (Preparation time does not count as CE) |
1 credit per hour |
|
In-Clinic training (includes lunch and learn events with sales reps) |
1 credit per hour, to a maximum of 3 credits per year |
|
Outreach and Volunteer Activities (Self assessed Activities) |
5 credits max per collection period, no roll over |
|
Board of Director Service (includes BCVTA, RVTTC, NAVTA, CAAT or similar animal health/RVT related organizations) |
5 credits per Board |
|
Committee Member Service (includes BCVTA, RVTTC, NAVTA, CAAT or similar animal health/RVT related organizations) |
2 credits per committee, to a maximum of 6 credits |
|
Member in good standing with an animal related professional organization other than BCVTA or RVTTC such as CALAS, CAZA, AZVT |
1 credit per organization |
|
Volunteer and outreach work with a recognized veterinary or animal welfare organization, i.e BCVTA, SBCV, BC SPCA event booths, conference, job fair, wildlife rescue work, public awareness and education event |
2 credits per event or 1 credit per |
|
Participation with a recognized organization providing animal wellness projects or disaster relief, i.e. Canadian Animal Assistance Team, Veterinarians Without Borders, etc. |
5 credits per trip to a maximum of 5 credits per year |
Continuing Education Audit Procedure
BCVTA policy 9.16.3 states that the association will conduct an annual audit of the continuing education records of no less than 5-10% of the membership. Not only does this ensure accountability among members, but it ensures that the member portal CE records are accurate. These audits have been conducted on an informal basis up to now, and the Board of Directors and the CE Committee have established a more formal process.
The Executive Director (ED) of the Association reviews and approves each continuing education activity submission by members on an ongoing basis and will review complete records when an issue becomes apparent. The ED will confirm that each CE activity meets the criteria for eligibility, verifies that supporting documentation is included, and ensures that the credit amount is correct. This process helps ensure that each submission meets the association’s requirements.
During the audit procedure, the CE Committee reviews the complete record of each member selected for an audit. They not only review each activity as the ED does (serving as quality control to ensure the ED is fulfilling their role), but they also verify that the total credit requirements for the collection period have been met. Additionally, they ensure that carry-over credits are calculated and applied correctly by the system and that the maximum credit amounts for each activity are adhered to.
The procedure for these audits is as follows:
- The annual audit will begin after the close of the collection period on April 30 of each year. The audit is performed on the most recent collection period. However, members are advised to retain their CE certificates and records for up to three years to allow for proper assessment of carry-over credits.
- Members will be selected at random. Those who are subject to a CE audit are notified by email from the CE Committee. Please keep an eye on your inboxes for email communications from the address continuinged@bcvta.com.The notification will include specific details about the audit including the requirements that must be fulfilled.
- CE Committee members will be provided with a list of members selected for audit and will complete an audit checklist for each member including member information, CE activity details, supporting documents, etc.
- Auditors will examine each continuing education record to ensure that all requirements are met, supporting documents are included, carry-over credits are accurately calculated, and the record is complete with no missing information.
- Members with outstanding credits and missing CE certificates/proof of attendance will be contacted by the auditor at the above email, requiring the member to respond to the BCVTA within 30 days.
The registrant’s response must include:
- a detailed list of all CE sessions completed during the cycle;
- supporting documentation to verify their completion of each session;
- a written explanation for any deficiency in hours or misreporting;
- a specific proposal for how deficiencies will be corrected.
- This response will be reviewed by the auditor and will form part of the auditor’s report to the CE Committee. If time is needed for the member to complete outstanding hours, the CE Committee will consider the request and specify a deadline of up to 6 weeks to correct the deficiency.
- CE that does not meet the stated criteria may be accepted on a case by case basis if the member can prove it is relevant to their work as an RVT. CE that cannot be verified by certification can be discussed with the CE Committee to decide if the activity will be eligible for credit. If it is determined that the activity is not eligible, the member will be notified.
- Once all CE requirements have been verified and the audited member has fulfilled any deficiencies, the auditor will sign off on the checklist, indicating that the audit is complete.
- Once all audits have been completed, the ED will provide the membership with a final report.
For questions regarding continuing education audit procedure, please contact us at executivedirector@bcvta.com