1. www.csmls.org Helping Individuals Pursue Alternate Career Pathways: CSMLS Research Project March 14, 2014 Gatineau C. Nielsen

2. www.csmls.org CSMLS: Who We Are The Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) is a national ▪ not-for-profit association, ▪ certifying body for Medical Laboratory Technologists (MLT) and Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLA), and ▪ professional society for Canada’s medical laboratory professionals Established in 1937 Represents 14,500 members in Canada and abroad

3. www.csmls.org CSMLS: What We Do Set the national standard (Competency Profiles) for certification of MLTs and MLAs Create and administer competency-based exams Prior Learning Assessment process for Internationally Educated Medical Laboratory Technologists (IEMLTs)

4. www.csmls.org Governance Professional Standards Council - PSC (formerly Council on National Certification and National Regulatory Council) Make recommendations to the BOARD on policies: Prior Learning Assessments (PLA) Certification (competency profiles, exam panels etc.) Representation from the Board of Directors (Chair), Exam panel and each provincial regulatory body or province/territory association in the absence of regulatory body

5. www.csmls.org The PLA Process SUBMIT DOCUMENTS ASSESSMENT EQUIVALENT EXAM NOT EQUIVALENT LEARNING PLAN PLA Stage I PLA Stage II Language Proficiency Testing (if needed) = CLB 6 = CLB 8

6. www.csmls.org ASSESSMENT REPORT CREDENTIAL EVALUATION MLT EDUCATION LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY WORK EXPERIENCE CONTINUING EDUCATION ONLINE SELF ASSESSMENT PERSONAL COMPETENCY RATING BOOKLET PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION Required Documentation

7. www.csmls.org The Assessment Report Proceed to examination EQUIVALENT Refresher gaps Follow Learning Plan NOT EQUIVALENT 1 Comprehensive Gap Follow Learning Plan NOT EQUIVALENT > 1 Comprehensive Gap Full-time program required NOT EQUIVALENT POSSIBLE OUTCOMES Supplemental information and appeals are permitted

8. www.csmls.org Process Timelines Assessment begins when all documents received at CSMLS (12 months from application) Assessment takes about 4-6 weeks Client has up to 2 years to complete the learning plan outlined in their report Once equivalent - 12 months (3 consecutive attempts) to pass the exam (same as domestic)

9. www.csmls.org Current Alternate Careers NOC3212 – Medical Laboratory Technician/Assistant referral over to the CSMLS MLA exam NOC2221 – Biotechnology referral to BioTalent Canada (for years!)

10. www.csmls.org How did we get here? Interest – our staff hear the struggles, barriers, challenges and triumphs of our clients Regulators – NOT MY JOB… until you are registered, we don’t really serve you Capacity – lengthy research history, 20+ full time staff Credibility – leading-edge in evidence-based policy decisions, one of the first professions compliant with the Pan Canadian Framework

11. www.csmls.org PLA By the Numbers About 200 PLA clients apply to CSMLS per year Approximately 90% are not equivalent to the national profile (numbers for 2013 are better – 17%) – they need to complete a Learning Plan These can take months or years… as some gaps are bigger than others. Even after completing a Learning Plan – about 35% pass the national exam on first attempt (domestic – about 86%) Many clients simply get lost in the system – and abandon their pursuit of licensure

12. www.csmls.org Key Activities 18 months – funded by Health Canada, IEHPI $291,000 – many experts required Secondary Research – literature review, environmental scan Primary Research: focus groups and surveys with IEMLTs to determine appropriate delivery/intervention points

13. www.csmls.org The Objective Arrive at a working definition of Alternate Career (is this even the right terminology?!) – started prior to release of the LIM Report Determine at what point(s) in the assessment process we should provide information on Alternate Careers Develop supporting communication material (microsite) for applicants and referral points (CIIP, CIC, Settlement agencies, regulators…)

14. www.csmls.org Goals Reduce the number of individuals lost in the system Decrease incidences of unemployment or underemployment among applicants

15. www.csmls.org Deliverables An understanding of what ‘alternate career’ really means in a regulatory environment Identification of 10-12 ‘alternate careers’ suitable to IEMLTs Preparation of communication materials, delivered at key intervention points, regarding alternate careers

16. www.csmls.org Key Activities Mapping of Competency Profile and Essential Skills information for MLTs to other jobs (not limited to healthcare) Provision of alternate career information to applicants re: 10-12 appropriate unregulated fields

17. www.csmls.org Advisory Committee Regulators (CMLTM - MB, NBSMLT - NB) Settlement agencies (HealthForce Ontario, JVS, ON), Educators (Mohawk College, Michener Institute - Ontario), IEMLTs (ON, NS), Third Party Assessment Agency (WES, ON) a Canadian MLT who was an internationally educated high school teacher (MLT is her alternate career, BC) BioTalent Canada (experience in Alternate Careers, ON) Having the right people, at the right place, at the right time is critical

18. www.csmls.org Many Experts Required Project Manager Advisory Committee CSMLS Management Committee Researcher Competency/Skills Experts Focus Group Facilitator Focus Group Participants Plain Language Support Communications/IT Support

19. www.csmls.org Focus Groups Qualitative and Quantitative data needed for recommendations Qualitative – 8 Focus Groups Quantitative (verification of Qualitative) – Online Survey Exit Interviews from online content Use of CSMLS Research Ethics Board – ensure research is conducted ethically and in accordance with high standards. Audience: recently certified IEMLTs and those enrolled in the PLA process

20. www.csmls.org Perception and Timing Validate research recommendations – ASAP (even before PLA, and throughout) How do Alternate Careers reflection on the IEMLTs? Are the ACs seen as “lesser”? Opinion on the term – Alternate Career

21. www.csmls.org Types of Careers What factors make an AC appealing? How do they feel about the draft ACs? Health vs Nonhealth Science-related – is this a MUST?

22. www.csmls.org Type of Information What kind of information might they need? How detailed? What information would help with ‘selling’ alternate careers? Hard numbers, or personal testimonials?

23. www.csmls.org Methodology Website visitors and focus groups 5-7 minute questionnaire about website implementation, quick read on the opinion of AC Need about 100-150 responses for quantitative analysis – otherwise, a more qualitative approach will be taken

24. www.csmls.org Website Intercept Survey

25. www.csmls.org Focus Groups 6-8 participants Urban/rural Mix of in-person and online Mixed experience groups (certified, working, starting PLA, finished PLA, etc) REB approval – vulnerable population Need to avoid GroupThink to explore the topic Watch for differences between paper and in-group responses

26. www.csmls.org Some Possible Alternate Careers NOC2221 – Biological Technologists and Technicians NOC3212 – Pathologist’s Assistants NOC3213 – Animal Health Technicians and Veterinarian Technologists NOC6221 – Technical Sales Specialists NOC1252 – Health Information Management NOC2212 – Assayers (Geological and Mineral Technicians/Technologists)

27. www.csmls.org Where are we at? Completed - Literature review (not much information available!) Completed - Skills experts have created of Occupation Fact Sheets Up Next Plain Language stage for fact sheets Starting knowledge transfer (CNNAR Conference, CASIIP, OCASI, Metropolis, this venue, CSMLS Labcon….) and we aren’t even finished! Focus groups

28. www.csmls.org To Do… Conceptualizing the CSMLS microsite Beta testing microsite Marketing/communications plan Project end! (September 2014)

29. www.csmls.org CHRISTINEN@CSMLS.ORG