A person applying for registration with a health professions college must be refused before acquiring a right of review under the Health Professions Act, even if the applicant and college have engaged in a dispute about registration requirements: The Applicant and the College of Psychologists of B.C. (August 31, 2009), HPRB Decision No. 2009-HPA-0008(a).
In this case, the applicant was a foreign-trained applicant who, in the midst of the application process, applied to the HPRB for a decision that she be exempt from the College of Psychologists’ requirement that she take a specific exam as part of the registration process. The applicant had previously asked the College to exempt her from this exam, and the College refused. The applicant sought a review before the Health Professions Review Board, but the college applied for the application to be summarily dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
The HPRB summarily dismissed the application for review on the basis the applicant had not yet refused the examination, and had not been rejected for registration on that basis. This meant that she did not fall within the definition of an applicant under HPA s. 50.54(1). An applicant for registration must have his or her application actually refused, or granted with conditions, before the HPRB has jurisdiction to conduct a review. Accordingly, an application to the HPRB may be rejected as premature; a registration review must be of a final decision.