Certification Eligibility
Individuals seeking certification from CCPM must meet certain requirements. Applicants for Membership must hold a suitable graduate degree, and must meet a minimum requirement of two years for patient-related work experience.
The criteria for Membership in the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine are set out in the Regulations of the organization. In 2016, an important change was made to the eligibility criteria for the Radiation Oncology Physics certification. New requirements are now in place relating to the CAMPEP Accreditation of the candidate’s graduate and training programs. Interested individuals should review Regulation D.2.7 carefully.
Eligibility to the Radiation Oncology Physics certification for internationally trained practicing medical physicist who do not meet the CAMPEP requirements is also possible through a bridging program. Details of the program are set out in Section G of the Regulations.
The CCPM certification process is intended to serve Canadians. Candidates are expected to fulfill at least one of the following criteria: be a Canadian citizen; be resident in Canada; have completed a university degree in Canada; have completed a medical physics residency program in Canada; or have a confirmed job offer in Canada.
If the requirements are met, the applicant must then successfully complete the examination process, after which he or she will be elected to Membership of the College.
Membership
Certification is intended to assure medical institutions that the medical physics needs of patients are being provided by competent Medical Physicists. Membership applicants must hold a graduate degree in Medical Physics, Physics, Science with Physics as a major, or another field deemed acceptable by the Board of the College. (Under exceptional circumstances the Board may approve an application from a person with only a B.Sc. in the above fields.)
Only those with patient-related experience in physics as applied to medicine for two years after a postgraduate degree are eligible. This experience must have been obtained within the last five years and must not have been acquired in pursuit of a graduate degree. The term "patient-related" refers to activities such as those that occur in the design, development, purchase, commissioning, calibration and use of medical equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of patients. The experience must be comprehensive within the specialty, and thus a research associate position would not generally provide the opportunity to acquire acceptable experience. The experience required by B.Sc. level applicants will be set on an individual basis by the Board.
Applicants must also satisfy the Board that they meet the standards deemed desirable in a Member and must pass a written and oral examination. The candidate should use the available Examination Booklets to prepare for the examination. Documents describing the standards and examination format can be found in the Application Documents section.
Referees
Three satisfactory letters of reference shall be provided, each attesting that the candidate meets the experience requirements and has abided by the CCPM Code of Ethics. Two of the letters of reference must be from medical physicists. At least one medical physicist referee must be certified by the CCPM, ABR, ABMP or, at the discretion of the CCPM Board, by another recognized certifying body.
For applicants who have completed a Bridging program, one of the letters of reference must be provided by the program mentor.
For applicants who have completed a CAMPEP-accredited residency program in the previous 5 years, one of the letters of reference must be provided by their residency mentor or by the program director or site coordinator.
The letters must be written by persons who have worked with the candidate in the previous 5 years and are directly familiar with the candidate’s clinical experience.