Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  It is with great pleasure that I start my second year as Chair of the Advocis London board.  We have a very exciting year ahead of us and I look forward to seeing everyone at all the events.  A copy of our 2011 program is being mailed to all members and is also available on our website at www.advocislondon.ca.  Please make sure you check it out.  Not only does it have the program on it but it is a brand new website that was just launched last week!
 
I have heard from many of you regarding CE credits from the 2010 program and want to update you on changes that took place last year as well as changes that are taking place this year.  The Institute started reassessing the criteria required to qualify for a CE credit in 2009 so that it fell within international standards giving us more credibility with regulators.  The change was implemented at the beginning of 2010 and applied to all 2010 chapter programs such as our breakfast series.  Unfortunately, the program we had planned in 2009 for the 2010 season no longer qualified for the same amount of CE credits under the new criteria.  Many chapters ran into the same issues and so the Institute decided to grandfather credits for the 2010 year.  

Recognizing that programs such as practice development and motivational sessions did not qualify for credits, the Institute and Advocis decided to change the CE requirements for 2011 so that we could still benefit from these types of sessions while maintaining our CE requirements.  For 2011, members are required to obtain 30 CE credits, however only 15 need to be Advocis approved.  The London chapter consistently runs Advocis programs such as Update 2011 (12 CE credits), Uncomplicating Compliance (3 CE credits), and Protect Your Practice (3 CE credits) so there is plenty of opportunity to obtain the 15 credits required.  We plan to hold another Regulatory Affairs event which typically qualifies for credits and we are working now to have as many of our breakfast meetings accredited.  
 
Please be sure to update your calendars with the 2011 program so you don’t miss out!

- Justine