Transforming and Supporting Patient Care - Health Professions ...

137Chapter 6 – Scope of Practice of Medical Radiation TechnologyIt is important to note that the College and Association are proposing tomaintain the requirement that MRTs may perform only controlled acts thathave been ordered by a physician or other authorized health professional.How the College Regulates its MembersEducational PreparationApplicants to the College must complete an approved training program inone of the four MRT specialties. The Canadian Association of MedicalRadiation Technologists’ Essential Competencies 24 are used as the basis forMRT education curricula in Canada. The competency profiles for each ofthe four MRT specialties are established and validated by the CanadianAssociation of Medical Radiation Technologists through an extensiveconsultative process that includes educators, practising MRTs, managers,regulators and governments.The College assesses the curricula of MRT education programs through theConjoint Accreditation Process of the Canadian Medical Association. Thisprocess determines whether the educational programs sufficiently addressrequired practice competencies – typically through a combination ofdidactic and clinical learning. 25 Several programs, however, haveincorporated a simulated learning laboratory to augment the clinicalpractice component of the curriculum, and to address the shortages ofclinical placements for students. There are several approved programs inOntario for radiological technology and radiation therapy. Only TheMichener Institute of Applied Health Sciences offers approved programs inOntario in nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance, two of the fourspecialties within medical radiation technology.Entry to PracticeAll applicants to the College, whether trained in Ontario, other Canadianjurisdictions or internationally, must successfully complete the examinationset by the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists. MRTswrite exams within their chosen specialty. As with the curricula acrossCanada, the content of the certification exams is guided by the competencyprofiles for each specialty. These profiles were recently revised and the newversions will be reflected in examinations beginning in 2011. Programsacross Canada have already begun to revise their curricula accordingly andto seek program accreditation under the new competencies.It is a College registration requirement that applicants show proof of eitherclinical practice within five years immediately before the application orsuccessful completion of an approved educational program within thatperiod.24Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technology. Professional Practice.CompetencyProfiles. www.camrt.ca/english/career/competency_profiles.asp.25Submission to HPRAC: Review of Interprofessional Collaboration Under the Regulated HealthProfessions Act; joint submission by College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario andOntario Association of Medical Radiation Technologists; June 30, 2008, p. 64.HPRAC Critical Links January 2009