Règlement d'autorisation (EN)

Authorization Regulation

Description and Interpretation

In April 2012, the Government of Quebec’s cabinet issued an order for an authorization regulation, which defined, among other things, the field of practice for athletic therapists, their target clientele, and the reserved acts conferred to them. This presentation explains the meaning and the scope of each clause in this regulation.

The purpose of this regulation is to determine, amongst the professional activities that physicians may engage in, those professional activities that may be engaged in by an athletic therapist pursuant to the terms and conditions set out herein.

This section refers to what are defined as the reserved acts that athletic therapists are authorized to exercise.

ATHLETIC THERAPISTS - CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT MAY BE ENGAGED Code des professions (L.R.Q., c. C-26, a. 94, par. h)

In this regulation, the following definitions apply:

• An individual who takes walks on a regular basis;• An individual who regularly visits a training centre;• An individual who belongs to a friendly, amateur or

professional sports team.

By extension, it applies to individuals who practice an activity similar in nature to a sport, such as dancers and circus artists.

This definition of “athlete” is very broad. It includes:

Further on, we will see that the pool of potential clients is even larger than this.

“athlete” is a person who, at an introductory, recreational, competitive or elite level, engages in a physical activity that includes some form of training, respect for certain rules of practice, supervision, technical content or practice time;


An athletic therapist may engage in the following professional activities with an athlete:

1. Evaluate musculoskeletal function when it presents a problem or incapacity of musculoskeletal origin and when the condition with which it is associated, if any, is in a chronic phase and a controlled state;

USEFUL DEFINITIONS

Assessment: “The notion of an assessment involves carrying out a clinical judgement of an individual’s situation on the basis of information that the professional possesses, and sharing the conclusions of his or her findings. Professionals carry out assessments as part of their respective fields of practice, and in doing so, they are complicit in the nature of the diagnosis in the second sense of the word, just as Judge Gilles Blanchet mentions in the Association des chiropraticiens du Québec vs. Office des professions du Québec case.”

(Cahier explicatif de la Loi 90, section 9)


USEFUL DEFINITIONS

Disability or incapacity: “According to the Dictionnaire Robert, a “disability” is an organic or mental insufficiency, while an “incapacity” refers to the state of a person who, following an injury or sickness, becomes unable to work or carry out certain activities.”

(Section 10 of the Cahier explicatif de la Loi 90)

Associated afflictions (arthritis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, etc.) Athletic therapists can treat athletes with afflictions if they are in the chronic phase and in a controlled state. In addition, the affliction must have been diagnosed and treated by a specialist.


2. use invasive forms of energy; Exercising this activity identically mirrors what is described for physiotherapists. On this matter, the Cahier explicatif de la Loi 90 stipulates:

“It is also important to note that as part of the treatments they provide, physiotherapists use machines that emit certain forms of energy that can cause bodily harm, including short wave diathermy. Due to predictable advances in technology in the field, and rather than limiting the list to existing forms of energy, this activity is worded so as to limit the use of invasive forms of energy. It also excludes those that have only a superficial effect, or, in other words, effects that do not penetrate beyond the cutaneous barrier of the human body.”

(Section 12 of the Cahier explicatif de la loi 90)



For example:

• Treatment of wounds during emergency care, including lacerations, abrasions, blisters, etc.

• Treatment of post-surgery scars in a clinical setting.

3. provide treatment to wounds;



4. administer topical medications that have been the subject of a prescription as part of the use of forms of invasive energy and for treatments of wounds.

Examples :

• Iontophoresis ;

• Antibiotics for the treatment of wounds.



An athletic therapist must engage in these professional activities for purposes of supervising athletes in the preparation and execution of their physical activity, offer them first aid on training and competition sites, determine their treatment plan and evaluate and treat their problem or incapacity of musculoskeletal origin in order to obtain optimum functional performance.

THIS CLAUSE DOES NOT LIMIT ATHLETIC THERAPISTS’ PLACE OF PRACTICE. Their work can be carried out on a playing field (indoor or outdoor), at a sporting facility, in an area suitable for physical activity (i.e. a park), in a professional office, in a training or conditioning centre, in a clinical setting or potentially, at a hospital. Furthermore, the origin of the musculoskeletal injury HAS NO BEARING ON THE DECISION TO TREAT. As such, an amateur athlete who runs three times a week can resort to the services of a therapist if, for example, (s)he sprains an ankle getting off the bus.


An athletic therapist may engage in the professional activities provided in paragraphs (2) to (4) of section 3 with any other persons if the following conditions are respected:

1° the person presents a problem or incapacity of musculoskeletal origin and the condition with which it is associated, if any, is in a chronic phase and a controlled state;

2° there has been a prior assessment by a physiotherapist or a medical diagnosis.


This section is very IMPORTANT, because it means that the general population is able to access athletic-therapy services. If there is an associated affliction, the same rules apply here as with athletes. PLEASE NOTE that we are not talking about getting a reference, but rather, having an assessment or a diagnosis in hand.

EXAMPLE: A nurse sprains a limb at work. She is diabetic, but the situation is stable and she receives medical attention. With her physician’s diagnosis in hand, she can then receive the services of an athletic therapist.

ATHLETIC THERAPISTS - CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT MAY BE ENGAGED Code des professions (L.R.Q., c. C-26, a. 94, par. h)An athletic therapist may engage in the professional activities provided in paragraphs (2) to (4) of section 3 with any other persons if the following conditions are respected:

Please send your questions and comments

to the following email address, with the subject line “Authorization Regulation”.

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Règlement d'autorisation (EN)

Healthcare

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