Supervisors

Physicians issued a Defined licence in Nova Scotia are required to have oversight from both a supervisor and a sponsor for the duration of that licence.

Supervisor Role & Responsibilities

The role of a supervisor is to monitor, assess, and support the supervised physician as they work towards long-term licensure. Supervisors play an important part in ensuring access to high-quality patient care for Nova Scotians.

The Supervision Handbook provides guidance to supervisors.

Supervisors must:

• Assess a physician’s practice
• Ensure the practice meets care expectations
• Establish and maintain a professional relationship with the Defined licensee
• Act as an agent of the College
• Be familiar with the supervised physician’s Licensing Agreement
• Advise the College of concerns
• Report on the supervised physician’s performance to the College
• Immediately notify the College Registrar if there are imminent patient safety concerns
• Advise the Registrar if the supervised physician stops practicing in a Health Zone
• Inform the College in advance if intending to withdraw from supervision

The College will notify the Supervisor if there is a College complaint regarding the supervised physician.

Eligibility

To be eligible to be a Supervisor, a physician must:

• Have a Full licence, Academic licence, or Defined licence on sponsor-only oversight
• Have a minimum of two years in practice
• Be approved by the Sponsor
• Be approved by the College
• Be engaged in a similar scope of practice as the Supervised physician
• Practice in the same geographic area as the Supervised physician unless otherwise approved by the Registrar