On the recommendation of the Quality Assurance & Professional Practice (QAPP) Committee (the “Committee”), the Board of the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of British Columbia (the “College”) has approved the combining of Certified Practice certificates E & F (Endoscopy) for Registered Speech-Language Pathologists (RSLPs) into one certificate.
As part of the College’s Certified Practice (CP) Program, there are currently two endoscopy- related certificates: Certificate E (Voice) and Certificate F (Swallowing). An expert group reviewed the two certificates as part of a scheduled review process and recommended to the Committee that they be combined into one Certificate.
This change will enable certificate holders to use endoscopy for all voice- and swallowing- related problems, and considering how many voice and swallowing issues co-exist, is in the best interest of clients.
Certificate E (and related Program of Study) will be changed to “Certificate E: Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Voice and Swallowing (FEEVS) for Adults”. The Certificate F slot will now be reserved for future development – possibly Paediatric Endoscopy.
There are a very small number of registrants hold the current Certificate E (Voice) who do not also hold Certificate F (Swallowing). Existing certificate holders will be given the option of retaining voice only, if they do not wish to complete the education and practical aspects for swallowing. There may be a number of reasons for this, including a patient population that does not have swallowing disorders.
There are over 40 holders of Certificate F (Swallowing) who will be required to complete the aspects of voice that are required for the combined certificate. There is an assumption that the fundamental skills of voice are covered in a graduate degree program and that Certificate F holders have all the essential procedural skills to conduct endoscopy. There is a need for additional education and verification of interpretation skills as they pertain to voice. This certificate does not cover other SLP practices, such as how to conduct Stroboscopy for voice disorders. A working group is currently developing a resource list for registrants as well as an educational session. This session is planned to be a free, pre-conference workshop in conjunction with the Speech & Hearing BC Conference in October 2019. The session will be recorded for future use by registrants.
There will be no transitional requirements for those who currently hold both Certificates E and F. Those registrants will be automatically granted the new (combined) Certificate E when it is released. Significant implementation time is required. The transition is expected to be complete by March 2020. If your current Certificate E and/or F are due for renewal prior to the release date, you should simply renew them as is.
For further information, please contact Mardi Lowe, Director, Quality Assurance & Professional Practice at [email protected].