NAC PRA framework | Medical Council of Canada

Overview

The Medical Council of Canada (MCC) oversees a collaboration with the nine provincial programs to develop and maintain common guidelines, tools, research, and support materials through the National Assessment Collaboration Practice-Ready Assessment (NAC PRA) framework. As each provincial program is independently run, this pan-Canadian collaboration ensures comparable and transparent assessments, with portable results, for all candidates regardless of the assessment jurisdiction.

Some of the important elements offered to programs include:

Clinical assessment tools and an assessor training program, including online training modules
Purpose-developed assessments such as the Therapeutic Decision-Making (TDM) Examination and the TDM Examination Blueprint to determine program eligibility
Curated, third-party learning resources addressing the practice of health care in Canada, including emerging priorities of equity, diversity, and inclusion
Ongoing research agenda to support evidence-based policy decision-making
PRA standards for family medicine practice

Pan-Canadian collaboration

The continued success of the NAC PRA is thanks to the collaboration and dedication of PRA programs, the NAC PRA Working Group (previously the NAC PRA Committee), medical regulatory authorities, the certification colleges, associated specialty committees, and other partners from across Canada. Health Canada provided the initial project funding to ensure the initiative’s success.

Fee to support pan-Canadian PRA

To support the ongoing work and ensure the sustainability of the program, in 2018 the MCC with partner PRA programs began charging a candidate fee. The fee is incurred whenever a candidate enters a clinical overtime assessment period with a provincial PRA Program.

2012 Environmental scan

In the first phase of the NAC PRA initiative, program elements already in place across jurisdictions in Canada were catalogued. The output from this was an environmental scan in 2012.