It is possible to take a break from urgent care clinical practice and pause your recertification.  Before considering this, please review the alternatives (alternative clinical recertification pathway or special consideration recertification pathway). In all cases, Fellows should inform the office as soon as they know that they intend to pause their recertification.  We cannot backdate the start date of your pause in recertification or cancellation of membership.

Request to pause or withdraw

Send an email to the office (admin@rnzcuc.org.nz), indicating your intentions. Include the date you intend to pause and restart.  You should also inform MCNZ that you are pausing your urgent care recertification activities. If you do not provide a return date, we will assume that you have paused recertification for six months and one day (a ‘long pause’).

While paused

  • If you intend to practise outside of urgent care for this period you must be enrolled on another recertification programme or contact MCNZ to arrange registration with InPractice.
  • We send reminders to you shortly before any planned return date, or on the anniversary of the start of your pause, until we consider that you have withdrawn from the programme (see below).
  • Clinical time that would have otherwise be approved for clinical hours in urgent care may NOT be recorded to satisfy CPD requirements unless previously agreed with the Director of Professional Development (DPD).
  • Courses completed may be allowed to be counted towards the programme, though prior approval should be sought from the DPD.

Returning

When you wish to return to the recertification programme, email the office asking to return.

On behalf of the Progress and Compliance Committee (PCC), the DPD will review your compliance with the recertification programme at the date you put your recertification on hold. The DPD will inform you of any activities to be completed either before returning or shortly after recommencing vocational recertification.

If the DPD considers that your prior progress would meet the criteria for poor performance in the Fellows’ performance policy, your application to return will be reviewed by the PCC. If your absence is for more than three years,  your application to return will be passed to the Board of Censors (BoC).  The PCC and/or  BoC may stipulate additional return-to-programme requirements, and we may require you to provide a recent certificate of professional status (COPS)¹.  The member bears the cost of activities stipulated by RNZCUC.

Pause classifications

These help guide the office and you about what services and actions occur while paused.

Short pause

If your absence from the programme is for six months or less:

  • We classify you as on a ‘short pause’
  • We will note that you have paused your recertification activities
  • You remain a member of the College, so are eligible to vote at general meetings and will receive important College communications
  • We will continue to provide you with services (website learning resources, TalentLMS access, UCCIS read/write access)
  • On your return, triennial or annual targets MAY be adjusted, subject to PCC approval
  • We will inform MCNZ that you have paused recertification.

Long pause

If your absence from the programme is for more than six months:

  • We classify you as on a ‘long pause’
  • If necessary, we inform MCNZ that you have paused recertification
  • You cease your membership of the College
  • You cease to use the post-nominal letters FRZNCUC
  • You cease to have access to TalentLMS and website learning resources
  • We arrange a pro-rata² refund of membership fees
  • We pause all services (website access, urgent care course access, lightbox and ECGWeekly, UCCIS write access)
  • You continue to have read-only access to your UCCIS account
  • On your return, we set new recertification targets taking your absence into consideration.

Withdrawn

If your absence from the programme is for more than three years:

  • We consider you to have ‘withdrawn’ yourself from the programme (unless you specifically advise us otherwise)
  • If not completed already, we carry out all actions described by ‘long pause’
  • We remove ‘read only’ access to UCCIS
  • We cease sending reminders to return to the recertification programme
  • On your return, the PCC and/or BoC stipulate return-to-programme requirements.

Footnotes

1. The certificate of professional status (COPS) may be requested from MCNZ (verification@mcnz.org.nz).

2. The pro-rated refund (if applicable) is calculated from the latest of either the date of when we are informed or the start of the pause, through to the end of the membership year. If you pause for six months or less, then inform us that you wish to extend this pause beyond six months, we use the date that you informed us of the new circumstances.