Sixty years later.

In writings that preceded the creation of our College, Dr Victor Johnston, our first Executive Director, detailed the need to encourage GPs to be active in hospital care, to create proper postgraduate training for general practice, and to enhance research in general practice.1 Fast forward to today: family medicine is much better defined as a discipline, and we have robust standards of training, with postgraduate residency training in each of Canada’s 17 medical schools. Continuing professional development opportunities abound. Solid research in family medicine and community care is taking place, even though we all realize that it needs to be better supported. Certification by either the CFPC for family medicine or by the Royal College for other specialties is the accepted standard to obtain an unrestricted licence to practise in Canada. Of interest, in the first 10 months of 2014, 1399 candidates achieved their CCFP designation: 1229 by examination, 56 through the alternate route to Certification, and 114 by way of recognition of certification outside Canada in an approved jurisdiction (48 from the United States, 3 from Australia, 8 from Ireland, and 55 from the United Kingdom). Results of the fall examination are pending as I write this. The CCFP examination was the first summative assessment to test competencies beyond the medical expert role. With 3 separate structured oral components to assess problem solving and doctor-patient communication, the CCFP examination included the very first objective structured clinical examinations. The CFPC was the first professional medical organization in Canada to clearly link maintenance of Certification to a commitment to lifelong learning.