In response to an application for a review of a registration decision, filed in response to the registration committee advising a potential applicant that he was not eligible to apply, the College of Physicians sought to have the application dismissed on the basis the applicant had not been formally “refused” and the Health Professions Review Board lacked jurisdiction. The Board decided it had jurisdiction over pre-screening rejections in The Applicant and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., HPRB Decision No. 2009-HPA-0038(a) (October 30, 2009)
In that case, the applicant made an informal application to be registered at the College. The Registration Committee initially informed the applicant by letter that it refused the application, but sent another letter stating it had sent the refusal letter in error, and stating that, according to its pre-screening policy, the applicant was not eligible to have his application considered. The College argued the Review Board did not have jurisdiction as ‘ineligibility’ was not ‘rejection’. The Review Board disagreed. Although the College invited the applicant to make a formal application, “[t]o require the Applicant to repeat the process, with no indication that there would be any material change in result is not an efficient use of resources.”
The Applicant and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., HPRB Decision No. 2009-HPA-0038(a) (October 30, 2009)