Throughout late 2010, the College has been engaged in a project to revise the Standards of Practice for MRTs in Ontario. We have provided updates on our progress through articles in Insights and some of you have participated in the early development of the draft standards.

Intensive work continues. A new draft of the standards of practice was sent to subject matter experts in mid-December 2010, with comments received by the College in mid-January 2011.

The subject matter experts, who were sent draft two of the revised standards of practice, looked at each of the practice requirements and each indicator with the following question in mind: "Is compliance with this requirement/indicator required for the provision of safe, effective and ethical practice?" They also recommended any additional indicators that they felt should be required to ensure the provision of safe, effective and ethical practice.

The comments from these subject matter experts are incorporated into the current draft standards of practice. An online survey will soon be available for members to add their input. The standards of practice are an essential component of self-regulation - your input is very important. The survey is accessed through the online member services section of the College website – www.cmrto.org. A letter will be mailed to all College members asking them to provide feedback and validation of the draft standards of practice through the online survey. The time-frame for you to complete the survey is March 7-31, 2011.

Following the consultation phase, the proposed revised standards of practice will go to the CMRTO Council for review and, if appropriate, approval.

To practise as a magnetic resonance (MR) technologist in Ontario, you must be registered with the College specifically in the specialty of MR.

If you are already a member of the College registered in another specialty, registration in MR is straightforward: you complete a program in MR approved by the College and pass the CAMRT examination in magnetic resonance. If you have completed both these steps, then you can fill out the appropriate application form (depending on whether you graduated from an Ontario or Canadian program) on the CMRTO website at http://www.cmrto.org/resource/forms.asp and send it to the College along with the $113 application fee ($100 application fee, $13 HST). Please note that you also must apply within 5 years of successful completion of the program in MR.

But remember: You must file a separate application for registration and pay an application fee for each specialty in which you wish to practise. If you are registered in more than one specialty, you only pay one annual registration fee.

The College's public register is now online, so information about in which specialties a member is authorized to practise is available to anyone. This is helpful to managers when hiring MRTs to work in MR.

Since practising MR without being registered with the College in that specialty may be considered grounds for professional misconduct, it is very important that you register in MR before you work in the field.

Renewing online is a fast and easy way to renew your registration, pay your fees and update your Health Human Resource (HHR) information.

As of May 2009 College members are able to renew their registration online and pay their fees by credit card (Visa or MasterCard) through the College website at www.cmrto.org.

Every member was mailed a password that gives you access to online renewal. If you don't remember your password, contact the College and we'll mail you a new one. If you have already accessed the online member services and have forgotten your password, you can click the "forgot password" button and you will be sent an email allowing you to reset it.

In response to members' concerns regarding the number of College mailings, and to save printing and distribution costs, beginning in 2012 all members will be required to renew their registration online.

This is a reminder that a new obligation in the Health Professions Procedural Code of the RHPA requiring MRTs to carry professional liability insurance is not yet in effect.

The College will be sure to notify members when section 13.1 of the Code comes into force.

Following a year and a half of development and pilot testing, in 2011 the College will introduce the individual practice assessment conducted by an assessor as a third component of the CMRTO QA Program.

Who Will Participate?
Members who have been randomly selected to participate in a practice assessment who have patient contact but cannot meet the requirements for the multi-source feedback practice assessment will be required to participate in an individual practice assessment conducted by an assessor.

How is the Assessment Done?
The individual practice assessment is a structured interview conducted by a peer assessor either over the telephone or face-to-face. A peer assessor is an experienced MRT in the same specialty who has been trained to carry out these individual practice assessments. During the interview members will be asked to describe specific situations from their practice as an MRT. The interview questions cover a number of norms drawn from the College's Standards of Practice – primarily the Essential Competencies. The assessment requires MRTs to provide detailed descriptions of recent practice situations that they have experienced or procedures they have performed.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (ministry) is working with health profession regulatory Colleges across the province to learn more about Ontario's health workforce. The goal is to ensure that Ontarians have access to the right number and type of well prepared health providers when and where they are needed – now and in the future.

The Health Professions Database (HPDB) collects comprehensive supply-side information on 21 regulated health professions in Ontario, including medical radiation technologists (MRTs). HPDB will provide data which will help to answer important questions such as: How many MRTs are working in Ontario? Where do they work? How many work full-time versus part-time? Answers to these questions will help planners and decision-makers work toward ensuring a sustainable supply of MRTs in Ontario.

The role MRTs play in this project is vital. The information comes from you as you complete the forms provided by the College. Under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, MRTs are required to provide this data and the ministry thanks you for taking the time to answer each question accurately and completely.

The 2008 Health Professions Database Stat Book, outlining key facts and statistics from the 2008 HPDB data set is now available at http://www.healthforceontario.ca/WhatIsHFO/evidence_hhr/hpdb.aspx. The 2009 Health Professions Database Stat Book is scheduled for public release in Spring 2011.

The government of Ontario is providing financial support for health professionals through the AHPDF. Practicing members of the CMRTO are able to apply for as much as $1,500 for professional development courses and programs. The purpose of the fund is to develop skills and enhance knowledge and leadership capacity among allied health professionals. This year, the fund will continue to provide grants for professional development opportunities completed between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011.

Go to http://www.ahpdf.ca/ to find out how you can apply.

The following are the people whose certificates of registration were suspended between October 1, 2010 and January 31, 2011 for failure to pay their fees in accordance with section 24 of the Health Professions Procedural Code.

A person whose certificate of registration has been suspended is not a member of the College unless and until the suspension is removed.