CPD Exemption for Martial Law Affected Regions?

It seems that CPD is here to stay. At least for now. I've been reading through some comments and I've found several statements that points to a possible exemption for residents of regions affected by martial law.

This is an article last year July 21, 2017 from Manila Bulletin.

PRC issues CPD exemption guidelines

In Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 07, Series of 2017, PRC granted this privilege to professionals, who may be unable to gain enough CPD units on time due to “justifiable reasons” to be determined by its Regional directors. 

These justifiable reasons include medical reasons, unforeseen or uncontrolled events (e.g. Martial Law declaration, recent typhoon, fire, et. al.), professionals working overseas, unemployed or financially handicapped.

link:

How to Renew your PRC license with incomplete CPD Units

If you're one of the professionals who need CPD units for July to December 2017 you don't need to panic if you haven't come up with the required units.

30% of the requirement might seem small to some professions but for some, it could mean anywhere up to 80 units such as for Accountants.

Unfortunately, the implementing rules and regulations was released just recently which means there's some confusion about who are CPD providers and how do they provide seminars/lectures that are accredited and how many units can they give.

PRC Releases CPD units Requirements for Professionals for July to December 2017

For professionals renewing their license anywhere between July to December 2017, PRC has released a matrix to show how much CPD units you need to be renewed. An advisory greets any professional who visits www.prc.gov.ph to ensure that everyone is aware of the requirements.

For the months July to December 2017, only 30% of the CPD units are needed for most of the professions. You can check the PDF file below how much you need in order to be able to renew your license.

My Thoughts on CPD and Nursing

I have noticed a lot of nurses are now scrambling to have their licenses renewed by taking advantage of the advance 1 year renewal. For people who aren’t aware of the problem, a relatively new law effectively requires professionals to be “updated” with their current profession.

I’m using the word “updated” loosely here as the law authored by Senator Antonio Trillanes may have good intentions but he completely missed the mark. The Nursing profession indeed has taken several big hits starting with the 2006 nursing board cheating scandal to quite a few incidents abroad. Unfortunately, Trillanes’ remedy is a band aid solution and one that might worsen the current situation in my opinion.

I think it’s commendable for a soldier turned mutineer turned senator to think of the welfare of professionals like nurses. But I can’t help but think if this was just a lobbied law by several groups keen on creating or strengthening an industry that is providing continuing professional education or continuing professional development (CPD) units. Unfortunately to obtain said units costs the average nurse a lot. Let’s put things into perspective.

According to the law, a nurse needs about 45 CPD units in order to renew their license (IRR of CPD act of 2016) which to some might seem easy to get. Not really.

Problem 1 – It’s hard to find seminars that are accredited to provide CPD units. Some CPD providers have talked about the delays in getting accredited.

Problem 2 – Those that do provide CPD units offer seminars/lectures that are too expensive especially for contractual nurses working in the private sector. An example would be a national convention that costs 3,500 to join but only gave out 6 CPD units. That’s almost like 500-600 pesos per unit. It looks small and cheap to some but the following problems arise.

Problem 3 – Nurses are required to pay for themselves when going to CPD seminars/lectures. Hospital executives couldn’t care less because going on to the next problem

Problem 4 – We nurses have to be absent at work and most hospitals have a no work no pay policy. For those with leave credits, would you waste 2-3 days of leave just for a max 8 CPD units?

Problem 5 – CPD providers tend to stick to cities. So nurses in rural and far flung areas have to deal not just being absent (with no pay) but also travel, board and lodgings as well as other expenses for communication, supplies during the seminar and more.

Problem 6 – I still haven’t found official information about it yet but it seems that you can’t get all 45 units in 1 year. It has to be spaced evenly in 3 years. So you can only get max 15 units a year.

The law definitely needs to be reviewed because I think Nurses aren’t the only ones suffering. So are other professions hit by this law. There’s an ongoing petition that challenges the law and if you think this law is still “raw”, sign up.

It’s a good thing though, PRC has extended the zero CPD units for Nurses until December 31, 2017 for renewal of PRC ID.

Guide for your picture for Online PRC ID Renewal

While it's easier to take a photo using your smartphone, it's still better to have a properly scanned picture of you to be used for registration. Especially since the picture you upload will be used for your ID.

Here's the guide for your online PRC ID renewal.

Requesting a Transaction to renew your PRC ID Online

Before you reach this step, you must have had registered first online in order to renew your PRC ID online.

If you already have your account, proceed.

REQUESTING AN APPOINTMENT FOR PRC ID RENEWAL

On your account page, click select transaction on the right side bar and then you will be presented with a form asking for your profession and your ID number.

Proceed and you will see a calendar. 

You have to choose first where you will be picking up your PRC ID. After choosing a branch, you'll see the calendar with dates and number of available appointments in a day. On the right side, you'll see a brief overview of how much you need to pay and brief appointment details!

Those abroad can renew their license online but they have to pick a branch in the Philippines. For now, you can't have your license mailed via courier after renewal. There's also no option to have someone pick up your ID but it may be possible with an affidavit or SPA.

TIP: You may set your date of appointment for the next day. However the problem is that you need to pay, payment verification takes up to 2 days and printing your ID will take time. However, if you've set a date and upon getting to the PRC branch the ID is not yet available, you can return again without any appointment (just bring claim stub) to claim your ID. So as an advise, it's best to set an appointment about 2-3 weeks in advance. If you miss your date, just go back any day to get your ID.

How To Renew Your PRC ID Online!

Why suffer long lines and horrendous red tape when you can now renew your PRC ID online! Learn how to renew your PRC ID in these easy, simple steps. (and skip those stalls asking Php 100 to set up your account. You're trusting someone else with your info!)

Step 1: Ready your documents/information/other stuff

Don't be scared, you won't be scanning a lot of documents. You just need them so you can get information from them in a one time registration and profile completion. These are the documents/information you need:

1. Basic details such as permanent mailing address, permanent phone number , employer (if applicable) and place of work
2. Your PRC ID number
3. Scanned 1x1 ID picture (click here for the specifications)
4. Recent educational status (if you have masters, then degree of the course related to your profession) DATE OF GRADUATION (MM/DD/YYYY) IS REQUIRED *although not a requirement, you may list all your college/university level education background.
5. HAVE A WORKING EMAIL! Very important! You will need this in case you forget your password and most importantly, this is also where you can get your claim stub through and email. There are free email services out there, the best one of course is www.gmail.com 

Step 2: Visit the PRC registration site

You may visit this website https://www.prc-online.com to register. If you'd like to be extra safe you may do the following sub steps

A. http://www.prc.gov.ph/

B. Scroll down a bit and find on the left sidebar/menu registration eServices. Move your mouse on and choose on what type of branch you are going to.

Clicking on any of those will lead you to just one website though. 

Step 3: Initial Registration

Once you click on https://www.prc-online.com you will have to pre-register yourself. This is where you need a valid, working email.

You will see the following form:

Step 4: Sign in and then Fill up the Profile Page

After pre-registration, you can now click on "sign in" and use your newly made account. You will be then transferred to the account page. Here you will be presented immediately to a profile fork requiring more details. *WARNING: MISTAKES IN EDITING THIS PART WILL LEAD TO VERIFICATION ERROR REQUIRING PERSONAL APPEARANCE TO PRC TO FIX* Especially if you get your birthdate wrong or you used a different birthdate when you first applied for your PRC ID. 

Refer to information you've prepared on step 1. 

When you're all done, click save information below. You need to do one more step to complete your profile. 

Click on the empty picture frame (with small camera icon) to upload a picture. You will need the one you prepared in step 1. 

And you're done!

Step 5: Requesting an Appointment for PRC ID Renewal - Click here!