The College of Dietitians
of British Columbia

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Dear colleagues:

Welcome to the College of Dietitians of British Columbia!

Many dietitians have worked long and hard to see the College become a reality and I would like to extend a big thank you on behalf of all College registrants, to each of you for your contribution. I am excited about our new beginning and relay greetings to you from the other members of the Interim Board: Glenn Kissmann, Vice-chair and registrant (Kelowna); Clarice Dillman, registrant (Sidney); Maja Karlsson, registrant (Kelowna); Carol Kline, public representative (Vancouver); Peter Lam, registrant (New Westminster); and Joyce Statton, public representative (Vancouver). Barbara Kates, BCDNA member (Kelowna) worked with the Interim Board until March 31, 2004.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce the College’s full-time Registrar, Fern Hubbard, who started with the College on January 26, 2004. Fern has eight years of regulatory experience working under the Health Professions Act as Deputy Registrar of the College of Dental Hygienists of BC and is an experienced manager.The Board welcomes Fern and invites you to contact her by telephone at (604) 736-2016 or by email at fhubbard@collegeofdietitiansbc.org

It has been a huge task to have the College functioning by April 1. The Board has worked incredibly hard since first meeting in January 2003 and thousands of hours, most of them volunteer, have been contributed to date.

No one could have predicted the length of time it would take to obtain government approval of the bylaws, or the costs involved. The Dietitians Regulation was approved in November 2002 and the original draft bylaws were sent for government approval in May 2003. We were powerless to move them forward faster than Cabinet wished and these delays put undue stress on potential applicants to the College as well as CDBC and BCDNA Board members and Dietitians of Canada staff. The Order in Council approving the College’s bylaws was passed on December 11, 2003 and the Board immediately advertised for a Registrar.

Although planning for the new College took place over several years, the actual costs of setting up a College were unknown. BCDNA generously provided $90,000 from its members but as work on College formation proceeded in the Spring of 2003, the Board realized that, conservatively, $250,000 was needed to become a functioning College as of April 1. Until the successful prepayment campaign in November 2003, the College had exhausted its financial resources on the development of the bylaws and legal consultation. If the prepayment campaign had not been successful, the College would never have become a reality. A sincere "thank you" is extended to all who prepaid.

College fees were set by the Interim Board during bylaw development and were approved by Cabinet.  The fees were based on a projected conservative number of registrants, the anticipated annual costs of running a new College, and on feedback from other Canadian jurisdictions. There are some requirements in the Health Professions Act and the bylaws, such a paying Board and Committee members, which makes budgeting different (and higher) than for a volunteer organization such as BCDNA. In addition, we were advised that it is prudent fiscal management to set aside a reserve fund of up to one million dollars for unexpected expenses, such as legal costs and discipline hearings. It is estimated that it will take the College eight to ten years to reach that reserve target.

Some registrants have expressed frustration with slow responses to email requests and telephone messages. Prior to the Registrar being hired, two Board members were attempting to respond to all messages. The number of messages was overwhelming and I apologize to anyone who did not receive a response. Since late March, when the College assumed the BCDNA’s office lease, the College has been adequately staffed and all correspondence and queries are answered in a timely manner.

Approximately 800 applicants were registered as Full (Grandparented) Registrants by April 1, 2004. This greatly exceeded the Board’s expectations! Many dietitians assumed that information held by the BCDNA (files, database, etc.) would automatically transfer to the CDBC. That was not the case. The College’s database is completely new and data entry has just been completed. A variety of communication avenues are now possible, including group email.

I hope the information provided in this letter is informative and that it helps to explain the College’s formation process. Please contact Fern Hubbard, Registrar, or me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Laura Cullen, RD, MBA
Chair

FROM THE REGISTRAR

A new beginning

I am very pleased to be working with the Board of the College of Dietitians of BC and with you, the new College registrants. I have met several dietitians since I started my position at the end of January, and have talked and emailed with many others. The passion and dedication of dietitians in BC continually impresses me as well as the desire for knowledge of College activities.

There will be many opportunities to participate in the function of the College and I urge you to keep informed by reading the Newsletter, which will be further developed and published regularly, and by frequently checking the website at www.collegeofdietitiansbc.org

I am pleased to be a part of this exciting beginning for the College of Dietitians of BC.

Fern Hubbard, Dipl DH, BA, MEd
Registrar

Why a College?

On December 11, 2003, through approval of the bylaws, the College and its registrants were given the responsibility to govern the professional practice of dietitians in the public interest by ensuring that dietitians meet requirements necessary for safe and competent dietetic practice. This mandate differs significantly from the member interest focus of a professional organization and is accomplished through initial registration requirements, standards of practice, a code of ethics, registration renewal requirements (including continuing competency requirements), the management of complaints and a discipline process. As well as having a different mandate from member services organizations, the College’s structure and process differs too. Much more information about the College’s function will be published over the coming year.

Registration Cards and Certificates

Enclosed with this mailing is your CDBC Registration Card and fee receipt. Please note your new registration number. Registration Certificates suitable for framing are being designed and printed. They will be sent to you within the next six weeks.

The "Window" For Grandparented Registration

Full (Grandparented) Registration is available to applicants who were a member of the BCDNA at any time between December 10, 2001 and December 11, 2003, have completed a minimum of 600 practice hours within three years of the application date and meet all other registration requirements in section 45 of the bylaws. The Application for Registration form is available on the website. Grandparented registration is available until December 10, 2005.

Are You Interested In Working On A College Committee?

The College is actively recruiting registrants for positions on the following College committees: Quality Assurance, Registration, Inquiry, Patient Relations, and Discipline. If you are interested, please contact the office for information about the scope of each committee and the expected time commitment, and send a one-page summary of experience with a note about why you are interested in participating in committee work. I hope to hear from you by July 1, 2004. This is a great opportunity to help shape the new College!

Public Register

As outlined in the Health Professions Act, the register of the College must be open to the public. A listing of registrants is posted on the website and includes the registrant’s name and class of registration, including any registered reserved acts.

Mobility Within Canada

The College hopes to soon be a signatory to the national Mutual Recognition Agreement. This agreement will ease mobility within Canada for dietitians who are registered with a Canadian dietetic regulatory jurisdiction that is a signatory to the Agreement. If you plan on moving to another province, please call the office for further information.

Election

The terms for the six registrants on the Interim Board end on September 30, 2004. An election will be held during September 2004 and successful candidates will assume their positions on October 1, 2004. Please see the election notice insert for further information. This is another great opportunity to get involved with the new College!

Reserved Acts

Reserved actions are elements of the Dietitians scope of practice that present a significant risk of harm. They are "reserved" to those professionals specifically qualified to perform the actions. Reserved acts may be added to your registration at any time, with proof of competence, and you are required to register reserved acts annually. The current requirements may be found on the website.

Liability Insurance

All registrants must carry professional liability insurance in an amount of not less than one million dollars per occurrence. If you change employment settings and have liability insurance through your employer, please forward a copy of the new policy to the College office.

Continuing Competency

The Quality Assurance Committee will have the responsibility to develop a continuing competency program. It will likely be different from the BCDNA’s PAC program. Until a program is approved, please continue quality assurance activities as usual and retain all records for
future use.

Professional Designation

Dietitians registered with the College may use the titles "registered dietitian" or "dietitian" and the initials "RD" in any combination of capitals, periods, slashes or hyphens.

General Registration

Application documents for all classes of registration are available on the website, or by mail or facsimile. Once all documents and fees are received, applicant information is summarized for the Registration Committee’s review and approval. Application time varies but averages three to four weeks.

Registration Committee Report

The Registration Committee met four times by teleconference in 2004, on February 25, March 10, March 29 and April 7. The focus has been on approving policies for Full Registration and Full Registration (Grandparented) classes of registration, which were subsequently approved by the Board. In addition, between March 11 and May 19, the Committee reviewed checklists for 825 applications for registration to the College, through forty mail ballots. Policies for international applicants to the Full Registration class, and applicants for Temporary Registration, will be reviewed over the next month.

Legislation updates

the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) came into effect on January 1, 2004. It legislates how the personal information (including health information) of clients, employees and members of an organization may be collected, used and disclosed. Dietitians working in private practice and for some organizations may be covered by this Act. Personal information gathered by the CDBC does not fall under this Act but must meet requirements in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA). Please contact the College office for further information about either of these Acts or if you have any questions or concerns about your information collected by the College.

Amendments are being made to the provincial Health Professions Act, which is the umbrella legislation for the College of Dietitians of BC and several other Colleges in BC. As amendments are made, the College bylaws will be reviewed to ensure conformity with the Act, and College processes, such as committee mandates, will be amended as needed.

Next Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Board of Directors for the College of Dietitians of British Columbia will be in September 2004. Please contact the College office for information about the dates, times and venue of the meeting.

Have You Moved?

Please keep us informed of your current address, email address and telephone number.

Newsletter Name?

Can you think of a catchy name for the CDBC Newsletter? Let us know!