British Columbia Osteopathic Association

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REGISTRATION FOR LICENSURE

Provincial registration and licensure

Osteopathic physicians must register with the  College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia in order to practice in this province.  Contact for the Registration Department at the College is:

Dr. A.J. Burak, Deputy Registrar
Registration Department
College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia
300 - 669 Howe Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada, V6C 0B4

Registration Department Phone Numbers:

Phone  604-733-7758,  ext. 2226 or 2225 or 2263 or 2271 or 2280
Fax     604-694-6104

College Main Switchboard Phone Numbers

College Switchboard:  604-733-7758
Toll Free:        1-800-461-3008

College Website

www.cpsbc.ca

Examination requirements

As of June 1, 2009, the College has adopted new bylaws under the Health Professions Act.  

Examinations now accepted for registration are:

• Medical Council of Canada Examinations (MCCQE)

• Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States (COMLEX)

• United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)

• Federation of State Medical BoardsLicensing Examination (FLEX)

• National Board of Medical Examiners Licensing Examination (NBME)

Classes of Registration and Licensure Requirements

To view all categories of registration please see the following 'Bylaws' document from the CPSBC website at:

 https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/u6/HPA-Bylaws.pdf

For Licensure requirements to Practice Full General/Family Medicine see page 38, section 2-10 at the following link:

https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/u6/HPA-Bylaws.pdf#nameddest=2-10

For Licensure requirements for Specialty Practice see page 40, section 2-11 at the following link:

https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/u6/HPA-Bylaws.pdf#nameddest=2-11 

For Licensure requirements for Osteopathic Musculoskeletal Practice see page 41, section 2-13 at the following link:
Please note that this category of registration is strictly for those graduates of American Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine who wish to focus their practice in the field of Musculoskeletal and Manual Medicine.  Only graduates of US AOA accredited osteopathic medical programs are eligible for licensure under this class of registration.  Non-physician osteopaths from other jurisdictions are not eligible for licensure in BC or Canada.

https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/u6/HPA-Bylaws.pdf#nameddest=2-13

For further details regarding classes of registration and licensure requirements please visit the College's Registration info page at:

https://www.cpsbc.ca/physicians-area/registration

Specialty certification

Both the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (specialty certification) accept the D.O. degree granted by AOA accredited colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.  This means that American D.O. graduates may compete for family medicine and specialty residency programs in Canada, in certain provinces. 

ADVISORY:

If you are considering completing your post-graduate training in the USA, it is important that you make sure that your program is approved by the ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) or is dually AOA/ACGME accredited in order to facilitate registration in Canada .  As not all US residency programs are equivalent to Canadian programs, you must also be certain that your residency program is equivalent in content and duration in order to be recognized for certification by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.  Further fellowship training may be required in some instances.

May 19, 2013