Practice-Ready Assessment
An accelerated route to licensure for internationally trained physicians.
What are Practice-Ready Assessment programs?
Practice-Ready Assessment (PRA) programs provide an accelerated pathway to licensure for internationally trained physicians (ITPs). These physicians have completed their postgraduate medical training and have engaged in independent clinical practice outside of Canada.
Currently, there are nine provinces running independent PRA programs. Each program offers a clinical workplace-based assessment lasting up to 12 weeks. Most of these are in family medicine, although a few provinces offer assessments in other specialties. During this assessment period, participants practise under the supervision of trained physician assessors to demonstrate their skills and readiness to work in the Canadian health care system, and to provide safe and high-quality care to patients. This accelerated route to licensure allows them to enter the physician workforce in that province without having to retrain. It is worth noting that while PRA programs share common eligibility criteria, each program has distinct intake requirements, which may include examinations.
PRA programs support communities that need additional physicians and ensure employment for successful candidates. After completing a practice-ready assessment, successful participants enter a return of service agreement to work in areas of high need within the province of assessment for a determined time.
How are PRA candidates assessed?
ITPs who participate in PRA programs are assessed in authentic professional environments using a workplace-based assessment (WBA) model, a method for evaluating what doctors do in practice. This evolving, outcomes-based approach to assessment supports accelerated pathways to licensure by standardizing and centralizing solutions.
About the NAC PRA framework
The Medical Council of Canada (MCC) oversees the National Assessment Collaboration (NAC) PRA framework with the provincial PRA programs to develop and maintain common guidelines, tools, research, and support materials.
As each provincial program is independently run, this pan-Canadian collaboration ensures comparable and transparent assessments, with portable results, for all candidates regardless of the assessment jurisdiction.
Participating in a PRA program
Qualified ITPs who wish to apply to a PRA program and practising physicians in Canada who are interested in becoming PRA program assessors should apply directly to their preferred or provincial PRA program.
PRA programs
Prince Edward Island, Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories do not offer practice assessments within the NAC’s pan-Canadian framework at this time. Contact the relevant medical regulatory authority if you are interested in practising in one of these regions.
