Program Eligibility

Program Eligibility

The CME Program for Rural & Isolated Physicians has been designed to support physicians who practice in rural and isolated areas of Ontario. Effective January 1, 2007, to be eligible for CME funding physicians must:

• Be licensed to practice medicine in the province of Ontario
• Have an OHIP billing number; and
• Have a full-time permanent practice in Ontario community with a RIO score >45; or
• Be eligible for the Northern Physician Retention Initiative (NPRI).

Based on the new eligibility criteria, CME entitlements will be provided as follows:

RIO scores can be obtained from the OMA website using the Postal Code Look-up feature.

In addition to CME funding, Visiting Speaker and Clinical Traineeship funding is available to qualifying physicians. 

Physicians qualifying for Levels 1 through 5 are eligible to receive funding through the Visiting Speakers Program (i.e. RIO score ≥45).

To be eligible for the Clinical Traineeship Program, physicians must meet the criteria for Levels 4 or 5, i.e. RIO score ≥60.

Physicians accessing the CME Program as a result of their eligibility for NPRI (i.e. RIO score <45), are not eligible for Visiting Speakers or Clinical Traineeship funding.

Sunsetting Provisions:

Former Group 1 and 2 physicians who will no longer be eligible for the CME program based on their RIO score will continue to receive CME monies until the end of the Agreement in March 2008.

The sunsetting provision will enable physicians who were formerly eligible for Group 1 funding but whose RIO scores are below 45 to access a maximum of $4,000 in the 15-month period from January 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008.

Former Group 2 physicians whose RIO scores are less than 45, will be entitled to a maximum of $1,250 in CME funding for the same 15-month period.

Program Components:

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CME Program Eligibility Forms are available on the Forms Page.