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Left arrowWHAT IS FELLOWSHIP?

Left arrowWHY ROYAL COLLEGE FELLOWSHIP MATTERS?

Left arrowWHO GRANTS FELLOWSHIP?

Left arrowIS MY DOCTOR A FELLOW?

Left arrowHOW DO I BECOME A FELLOW?

FELLOWSHIP
MATTERS

Canada’s national standard for specialist medical expertise

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WHAT IS

FELLOWSHIP?

Royal College Fellowship is the national standard for specialist medical expertise. Because medicine keeps evolving, Royal College Fellows are always enhancing their learning and skills. This proven commitment to learning is what Fellowship is all about. This site will show you how the high standards created — and met — by Fellows provide confidence for patients like you, as well as for the physicians who refer you to them.

 

 

In June 1929, a special Act of Parliament established The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada to oversee postgraduate medical education.

The Royal College originally offered just two specialty qualifications: Fellowship in general medicine and Fellowship in general surgery. As medicine changed, so did the range of specializations.

Fellowship was first offered as a higher qualification to the basic Certification offered by the Royal College. Since 1972, there has been one high standard of Certification for all specialist physicians and surgeons, with Fellowship representing a voluntary commitment to professional development and science-based health advocacy.

In recent years, the Royal College has expanded its activities and voice, becoming increasingly active in issues that are important to Canadians, such as Aboriginal health, injury prevention, patient safety, health human resources, and international affairs.

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WHO

CAN BECOME A FELLOW?

The 37,018 Active Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada represent 80 medical or surgical specialties, from Adolescent Medicine to Urology. (As well as 13 Areas of Focused Competence called “AFC-diplomas.”)

Fellows are certified by the Royal College after they complete rigorous national examinations in a medical or surgical specialty. Fellows commit to lifelong learning and continuing professional development through the Royal College’s Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program. This includes participation in ongoing activities such as conferences, workshops, seminars, rounds, journal clubs, small-group learning, and self-assessment programs (including practice reviews).

Fellows are the only doctors allowed to add the initials FRCPC (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada) or FRCSC (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada) to their titles.

List of Specializations


  • Anatomical Pathology (AP)
  • Anesthesiology (ANES)
  • Cardiac Surgery (CS)
  • Dermatology
  • Diagnostic Radiology (DR)
  • Emergency Medicine (EM)
  • General Pathology (GP)
  • General Surgery (GS)
  • Hematological Pathology (HP)
  • Internal Medicine (IM)
  • Medical Biochemistry
  • Medical Genetics
  • Medical Microbiology
  • Neurology (adult or pediatrics)
  • Neuropathology
  • Neurosurgery
  • Nuclear Medicine
  • Obstetrics & Gynecology (OBGY)
  • Ophthalmology
  • Orthopedic Surgery (OS)
  • Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
  • Pediatrics (PED)
  • Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R)
  • Plastic Surgery
  • Psychiatry (PSY)
  • Public Health and Preventive Medicine (PH&PM)
  • Radiation Oncology
  • Urology
  • Vascular Surgery
  • Adolescent Medicine
  • Cardiology (adult or pediatrics) (CARD)
  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Clinical Immunology & Allergy (adult or pediatrics)
  • Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology
  • Colorectal Surgery
  • Critical Care Medicine (adult or pediatrics) (CCM)
  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Endocrinology & Metabolism (adult or pediatrics)
  • Forensic Pathology
  • Forensic Psychiatry
  • Gastroenterology (adult or pediatrics)
  • General Internal Medicine
  • General Surgical Oncology
  • Geriatric Medicine
  • Geriatric Psychiatry
  • Gynecologic Oncology
  • Gynecologic Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility
  • Hematology (HEM)
  • Infectious Diseases (adult or pediatrics)
  • Interventional Radiology
  • Maternal Fetal Medicine
  • Medical Oncology
  • Neonatal Perinatal Medicine
  • Nephrology (adult or pediatrics)
  • Neuroradiology
  • Occupational Medicine (OM)
  • Pain Medicine
  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (PHO)
  • Pediatric Radiology
  • Respirology (adult or pediatrics)
  • Rheumatology (adult or pediatrics) (RHEUM)
  • Thoracic Surgery (TS)
  • Clinician Investigator Program
  • Palliative Medicine
  • Surgical Foundations

Learn if your doctor is a Royal College Fellow

FELLOWSHIP

FAQs

A physician may be certified by the Royal College without becoming a Fellow. However, about 90% of certified physicians decide to become Fellows within 2 years of their certification.

All Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Fellows are certified by the Royal College, but not all who are certified commit to becoming Fellows.

Certification is an assessment of a resident’s knowledge and skills to ensure they satisfactorily meet the specialty-specific training requirements; Fellowship includes a commitment to continuing professional development through the Royal College’s Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program.

FRCPC stands for “Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada” and FRCSC is “Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada”. These are the official designations of active Fellows, and are proudly displayed by qualified doctors.

Family Physicians are not certified by the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, but by their own organizations, the College of Family Physicians of Canada and/or the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ), which certifies both family physicians and specialty physicians in Québec.

For more than 20 years, the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ) and the Royal College have worked together to ensure harmonization between their specialty medicine examinations and standards. In 2011, in recognition of equivalent standards between the two organizations, the Royal College offered Royal College Fellowship to CMQ-certified specialists.

You are within your rights, as a patient, to request that you be referred to a specialist who is a Fellow. However, as not all specialists are Fellows, there may not be a Fellow available in your area. Ask your Family Physician to access the Royal College Directory if you would like to see if there is an appropriate Fellow near you.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada maintains an up-to-date database of all Active Fellows. You can search for an individual doctor by name, or search for Fellows within a specialty by visiting the Royal College directory.

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WHY

ROYAL COLLEGE FELLOWSHIP
MATTERS?

Infographic: Why Royal College Fellowship Matters
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WHO

GRANTS FELLOWSHIP?

Fellowship is granted by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. It is the national professional organization that oversees the medical education of specialists in Canada.

The Royal College is a not-for-profit organization, created by a special Act of Parliament in 1929 to oversee postgraduate medical education.

Today, the Royal College accredits the university programs that train resident physicians for their specialty practices, and creates and administers the demanding examinations that residents must pass to ensure they meet national standards and to become certified as specialists.

The Royal College Practice Eligibility Route program offers certification options to internationally-trained medical graduates through either the traditional Royal College certification examination or, in the future, an equally comprehensive in-practice assessment.

The Royal College is dedicated to protecting the health of Canadians by helping physicians build skills, knowledge, and expertise in their specialties. The Royal College’s Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program is a key lifelong learning and professional development program that helps specialist physicians keep their skills and knowledge up-to-date.

IS MY DOCTOR A FELLOW?

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada maintains an up-to-date database of all Active Fellows. You can search for an individual doctor by name, or search for Fellows within a specialty:

Royal College Directory

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HOW

DO I BECOME A FELLOW?

Specialized physicians and surgeons in Canada can apply for Fellowship after receiving their certification from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Step 1 Training: The Royal College has multiple routes to certification to accommodate the various training pathways that physicians may follow, including those of international medical graduates.
Step 2 Certification: The Traditional Route to Certification is intended for those who completed their postgraduate residency training in a Canadian program accredited by the Royal College (or an ACGME accredited program within the United States). International Medical Graduates who have completed specialty training outside of Canada or the United States can become certified through training and assessment programs offered by the Royal College.
Step 3 Fellowship: Upon certification, the Royal College invites the specialist to become a Fellow by committing to the Maintenance of Certification program and paying annual dues. The Royal College also gives Fellows a voice in setting and monitoring these standards in medical education and lifelong learning.