Quality Practice
The College and its licensed members confirm the public’s right to access safe, quality veterinary medicine in Ontario. Ontario veterinarians are highly competent, professional practitioners. They care about positive outcomes for their patients and care about contributing to a healthy society. Veterinarians are committed to ongoing learning and understand and promote high standards in the practice of veterinary medicine. Veterinarians work in and from facilities that promote safety for all.
Through the Quality Practice Program, the College delivers programs that support veterinarians in demonstrating their continued competence and the safety and quality of their practice. Veterinarians receive support in their engagement in activities that serve to maintain and improve their knowledge and skills throughout their careers. Veterinary facilities are regularly inspected and accredited. The College provides reports regularly on how it is doing to meet the public’s expectations.
The Quality Practice Program consists of three component parts:
- Quality Assurance
- Quality Improvement
- Facility Accreditation
Quality Assurance Program
The College places a high priority on supporting veterinarians in their engagement in continuous quality improvement in their practice. Through the Quality Assurance Program, the public is assured that veterinarians are competent and they are engaging in ongoing learning throughout their careers to maintain and improve their competence, and respond to the evolving nature of veterinary medicine. The following definition of competence was adopted by Council in 2015:
Competence in veterinary medicine is the ongoing, reflective application of related knowledge, skills, and attitudes as expressed in professional behavior. Competence is informed by an individual’s scope of practice and practice setting. Competence can be measured against accepted standards, and maintained and improved with continuing professional development.
The Quality Assurance Program is necessary to ensure the ongoing quality and safety of veterinary medicine in the province, to mitigate risks to the public, and to instill public confidence in veterinary medicine and regulation of the profession.
The Quality Assurance Program includes the following programs:
- Peer Advisory Conversation
- Peer Review of Medical Records
Quality Improvement Program
Veterinarians are committed to ongoing learning in their practice. The College supports veterinarians in demonstrating their engagement in continuing professional development. The Quality Improvement Program is a suite of tools and resources that assist veterinarians and offer learning opportunities to the profession through the College.
Veterinarians engage in a range of learning activities that contribute to their continuing professional development. These include workshops, conferences, webinars, online learning modules, consulting with peers, etc. College Council recommends that licensed members engage in 150 hours of CPD activity over three years. Veterinarians annually report their CPD activity hours to the College.
The Quality Improvement Program includes the following tools and resources:
Facility Accreditation
Veterinarians are committed to providing a safe environment for animal care. The College supports quality and safety in the delivery of veterinary medicine through Facility Accreditation.
The profession, through Facility Accreditation, ensures access to quality veterinary care in a safe and professional environment through regular inspections of veterinary facilities conducted by trained inspectors.
The accreditation process supports public confidence in the veterinary facility and enhances the quality of veterinary care by requiring that veterinarians review their facilities regularly to ensure they continually meet standards for quality and safety.