Osteopaths, kinesiologists, paramedics and perfusionists | What the new professional orders will change
After decades of efforts, osteopaths and kinesiologists will soon have their professional orders. The same goes for paramedics and perfusionists. Light on the changes to come.
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What you need to know
- The government has mandated the Office des professions du Québec to carry out the work aimed at supervision.
- Kinesiologists (physical activity specialists) and osteopaths have been waiting for this moment for 30 years.
- The main paramedics union does not see it as a priority.
- Quebec has 6,300 paramedic ambulance technicians, 3,500 kinesiologists, 3,000 osteopaths and 80 clinical perfusionists.
The Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, made the announcement in the last few days: Quebec is officially launching work to regulate these four professions. Under the supervision of the Office des professions du Québec (OPQ), committees must specify the fields of practice of these professions, the reserved activities and the supervision arrangements (whether the profession will be regulated by a separate order or integrated into an existing order, for example). The duration of the work will depend on the availability and commitment of the partners involved, indicated Jacques Nadeau, spokesperson for the OPQ.
“It doesn’t matter if there is a change of government or new priorities, there will be order,” rejoiced Marc-Antoine Pépin, president of the Fédération des kinesiologues du Québec.
Same sigh of relief among osteopaths, for whom this announcement is the culmination of long procedures. The first dates from 1990. “It’s really a good time for osteopathy in Quebec,” summarizes the president of Ostéopathie Québec, Karine Devantéry. The OPQ had recommended to the government in 2022 the creation of an order for osteopaths, but the file stagnated. And now everything unlocks at the same time.
On the side of paramedics (the term they use in preference to paramedics or paramedic ambulance technicians), reactions are more divided, if we rely on comments on social networks.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Paramedics in action
Some welcome this move towards self-regulation, while their surveillance is currently centralized by the government. The Corporation of Paramedics of Quebec – an organization which advocated the creation of an order – sees it as “a historic moment” in the recognition of the evolution of the profession.
Other paramedics see more constraints, particularly on a financial level. Professional orders are financed through member contributions, and paramedics (the majority without an employment contract for three years) have long been demanding salary increases to recognize their work.
“The current system, with the national register, is more effective in protecting the public than a professional order,” believes Jean Gagnon, representative of the prehospital sector at the FSSS-CSN, the main paramedics’ union. For the union, the priority remains to improve working conditions.
The creation of an order for paramedics was included in the government’s Health Plan in 2022.
In the Liberal Party of Quebec, we are surprised that all the files culminate simultaneously, even though it has been four years since the osteopaths received the favorable opinion from the OPQ. “That it unblocks, in itself, is not a bad thing, but it seems like it was done in haste,” said Liberal MP André A. Morin. “The elections are coming,” he recalls.
In the office of Minister Jean Boulet, it is explained that, for osteopaths, the work is being carried out in parallel with the approval of a university program in osteopathy at UQAM. In 2022, the OPQ recommended the creation of a university program in osteopathy of at least 3,100 hours. Historically in Quebec, osteopathy is taught in private schools, and the duration of training once varied enormously from one school to another.
As for perfusionists, they assist patients requiring artificial cardiac, respiratory or circulatory support, particularly during a surgical procedure.
“Under one roof”
For the public, what will the creation of the orders change?
The main mission of a professional order is to ensure the protection of the public, by controlling the competence and integrity of their members (with a code of ethics), the quality of care and the required training, and by regulating the exercise. Trustees are also created to investigate.
“The order will bring together all kinesiologists under one roof,” summarizes Marc-Antoine Pépin. Currently, he explains, it is the kinesiologist associations which put in place mechanisms to protect the public, but only a part of them are members. To have the title of kinesiologist, you must be a member of the order. “They will really have a much clearer ethical framework,” he summarizes.
THE coachs Do athletes and gym employees risk finding themselves with the orders of kinesiologists on their backs? “The goal is not to take ownership of all physical activity,” assures Mr. Pépin. But kinesiologists could, for example, inherit the skill of establishing intervention plans for people at risk, such as sick people or pregnant women, he illustrates.
The creation of an order of osteopaths will make it possible to establish clear training criteria and standardize practice, indicates osteopath Karine Devantéry.
“As the training has been heterogeneous over the years, anyone could call themselves an osteopath or even open an osteopathy school,” she illustrates. The criteria will now be very precise, and the title of osteopath reserved.
