New Information for Members

A: CSCT – Canadian Society of Cardiology Technologists: The National Association which all provincial associations fall under; they administer the exam, set down CEU standards and dues

OSCT- Ontario Society of Cardiology Technologists: The Provincial branch administering to Ontario members; holds Provincial AGM each May; collects dues on behalf of the CSCT; administers and enforces CEUs; holds one position on the CSCT board and attends quarterly meetings.

A: All board members are volunteers with full-time jobs, families, and other commitments. We do not receive a salary to administer to OSCT business. Most often, we do our work late at night or on weekends as time permits. We do not have a central office nor a phone line for the same reasons. Some members suggested having a board member dedicated to communication with members, which is a great suggestion. To do that, we would need to remunerate that board member. This was done in the past, but it was underutilized and expensive. Once again, this cost would have to be reflected in the due’s members pay every year. For one employee at part time, it would cost each member an additional $25/year, full-time would cost an additional $50/yr. This is a matter we will discuss at a future AGM.

A: There are a plethora of free online opportunities found here https://www.csct.ca/rct-education/education-links

The OSCT website and Facebook page has continued to post opportunities, most of them free. 

 A: We have! The CSCT CEU Standards (2020) allow for only 8 online CEUS per year. Due to COVID, the OSCT has increased that limit to 10 for this year. As 30 CEUs are due each triennium (currently running 2020-2022) this puts our members in line to acquire 10 for this year, 1/3 of the requirements 

A: In order to create an adequately secured database, the cost was found to be prohibitive, and would have resulted in the OSCT increasing dues to help cover the cost. The CSCT database is routinely updated when CEUs and payments are submitted. 

 A: The OSCT is working diligently to organize an AGM. We have approached several speakers to provide content for education portion but have been largely unsuccessful thus far. We will update all members via our website once a decision and schedule has been made 

A: The current triennium (defined as a 3-year period) began January 01, 2020 and runs until December 31st 2022. 30 CEUs are required to be submitted by December 31st, 2022. In Ontario we do not require 10 CEUs to be submitted annually and CEUs can be submitted at any time during the triennium in any amount. For quicker processing, we highly recommend CEUs be scanned and emailed along with the submission form to ceu@osct.ca  as they are acquired. 

A: We have been asking this question for 25+ years. The Provincial government has been approached several times and the OSCT even hired a consultant in 2005 to help guide us through this process. We have learned that the process is long, laborious, and expensive. The OSCT board had a meeting in April 2019 with the CMRITO, who went through the same challenges to become regulated to get insider information about the process and advice on how to approach regulation once again. We learned that the process would require funds upwards of $2 million, in funds that the OSCT does not have, along with at least 2 full time and 2 part time paid staff members. Compared to other organizations (i.e. ONA, CMRITO etc.) we have a small membership. We have about 997 active members currently. If we aimed to approach the regulation application in 5 years, to raise the $2 million minimum, the OSCT would have to increase annual dues to $411 per member, per year. This is something to be discussed at a future AGM.