Manitoba’s regulated health professionals are at the beginning of a new age in regulation. The end goal is to have all regulated health professions come under one umbrella legislation - the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA). The RHPA comprises broad legislation that replaces all individual acts governing each regulated health profession.

Two important changes that this legislative model enacts are: (1) each college regulated under the RHPA - for example, the Colleges of Registered Nurses, Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists, Physicians and Surgeons, Physiotherapists, Psychiatric Nurses, Medical Laboratory Technologists, and Opticians - must develop and maintain a continuing competence program; and (2) all regulated health colleges must promote inter-professional collaboration with other colleges. This learning module provides you an opportunity to learn about the RHPA, how the RHPA supports collaborative practice and your professional obligations under the RHPA.

After completion of this learning module, you will be able to:

• understand professional self-regulation and the role of regulatory colleges in the province’s health care system;
• outline the core content of the umbrella legislation (the RHPA) as it applies across Manitoba’s regulated health professions;
• describe how the RHPA impacts regulated health professionals’ practice and interprofessional collaboration;
• demonstrate awareness of registrants’ professional obligations and employers’ responsibilities under the RHPA;
• demonstrate knowledge of the applicability of and accountability to the code of ethics, standards of practice, and practice directions of your college; and
• explain the reserved acts model and describe the implications and importance of collaborative practice among health professionals.