01Agreement, eligibility & who we are

Neopeds Academy is an online academy for neonatal and pediatric healthcare professionals based at 201-52 Cannon Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8R 2B5, Canada. We can be reached at support@neopedsacademy.org or +1 (289) 456-2324.

To use the Services you must be at least 18 years old and a healthcare professional, trainee, student or researcher with a legitimate educational interest in neonatal or pediatric care. Some programs have additional prerequisites (for example, a clinical role that allows you to perform ultrasound examinations); these are stated on the program page and you confirm you meet them when you enrol.

If you register or pay on behalf of someone else (for example, a hospital sponsoring a trainee), you confirm that you are authorised to accept these Terms for that person and that they have been given a copy. The learner remains bound by these Terms personally.

We may update these Terms from time to time. The effective date at the top shows when they were last revised. Material changes will be announced by email or a notice on the website; your continued use of the Services after the effective date means you accept the revised Terms. Purchases made before a change remain governed by the Terms in force at the time of purchase, except where the change is required by law.

02Our programs & definitions

The following program categories are referred to throughout these Terms:

“Content” means all course material, videos, recordings, slides, images, text, quizzes, clinical tools, software and other material made available through the Services. “Program” means any item in the table above that you purchase or enrol in.

03Accounts & registration

You need an account to purchase programs, access content and receive certificates. You agree to provide accurate, complete and current information — including your real name and professional details, which appear on your certificates — and to keep it up to date.

Each account is for one person. You are responsible for keeping your password confidential and for all activity under your account. Tell us immediately at support@neopedsacademy.org if you believe your account has been accessed without permission. We may suspend or close accounts that are shared, that show simultaneous access from multiple locations, or that are used in breach of these Terms.

Institutions purchasing multiple seats receive one account per named learner. Seats may be reassigned to another learner only before the original learner has accessed the content, and only with our written agreement.

04Pricing, payment & taxes

Prices are shown on the website in the currency indicated at checkout and may change at any time; the price in force when you complete your purchase is the price you pay. Prices exclude applicable taxes (such as Canadian GST/HST) unless stated otherwise; taxes are calculated and added at checkout based on the billing details you provide, and you are responsible for any bank or currency-conversion charges levied by your own bank.

Payments are processed by our payment provider, Stripe, through our online store. We never receive or store your full card details. By submitting payment you confirm that you are authorised to use the payment method and you authorise us (and Stripe) to charge the full amount shown. Where we invoice an institution, payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date unless otherwise agreed, and access may be withheld until payment is received.

Each program in an order is a separate purchase; our acceptance of one does not oblige us to accept another. Discount codes must be applied at checkout, cannot be combined unless stated, and are non-transferable. If a price is obviously wrong because of a typographical or system error, we may cancel the order and refund you in full. If a payment fails or is reversed, we may suspend access until it is settled.

05Access periods & your licence

When your purchase is confirmed we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to view and use the Content of that program, online through the Services, for your own professional education during the access period below. Ownership of all Content remains with Neopeds Academy and its faculty and licensors.

Access ends automatically when the period expires. Extensions, where offered, are listed on the program page or available by contacting us; we may charge a fee. Content is streamed only and may not be downloaded, recorded, screen-captured, copied, translated, shared, sold, sub-licensed or used to create derivative works, in whole or in part, and may not be used to train artificial-intelligence systems. Quiz questions, answer keys and assessment material are confidential. Any breach ends your licence immediately, without refund, and may result in legal action.

06Refunds, cancellations & transfers

Refund and cancellation rules differ by program category and are also displayed on each product page and at checkout. Where these Terms and a product page differ, the product page applies to that purchase. All refund requests must be sent to support@neopedsacademy.org from the email address on the account, and approved refunds are returned to the original payment method — within 10 business days for courses, on-demand conferences and diploma programs, and within 30 business days for live events.

Online courses and on-demand conferences

You may cancel within 48 hours of enrolment for a refund less a USD 25 administrative fee. No refund is available after 48 hours from enrolment, whether or not you have accessed the content.

Diploma programs — cancellation and refund

Diploma programs — deferral to the next available cohort

Deferral is subject to seat availability in the next cohort and is granted once. The deferral fee depends on when the request is received:

Diploma programs — extension for case submission

If you have not submitted all required studies by the program end date, you may request an extension. The fee depends on the length of extension requested (all fees exclude banking, credit-card and gateway charges):

Conferences, workshops and symposiums (live, virtual and hybrid)

The following policy applies to every live event we organise, whether delivered in person, virtually or in hybrid form, unless the event page states otherwise. All cancellation, substitution and credit-transfer requests must be sent in writing to support@neopedsacademy.org and are processed according to the date the email is received. Deadlines below are counted from the first day of the event.

Cancellation by the delegate

Substitution and registration credit

Transfer to a colleague. A registration may be transferred to a colleague at no charge at any time up to 7 days before the event. Email us the replacement delegate’s full name, institution and contact details; the replacement must meet any eligibility requirements for the event.

Transfer to Neopeds Academy payment credit. Instead of a refund, you may convert the full registration amount into a payment credit toward any upcoming Neopeds Academy event or program — including on-demand conferences, courses and diploma programs. If you choose this option the 20% administrative fee is waived and you retain 100% of the amount paid as credit. Credit-transfer requests must be received no later than 7 days before the event.

Visa refusal

International delegates whose visa application for the host country is refused will receive a full refund, less the 20% administrative fee, provided that official documentation of the refusal is emailed to us no later than 14 days before the event.

Cancellation, postponement or change of format by us

If we cancel an event, registration fees will be refunded in full. We are not responsible for travel, accommodation or other costs incurred by delegates, so we recommend refundable bookings and travel insurance. If an event is postponed or its format is changed (for example, from in person to virtual or hybrid), registrations transfer automatically to the rescheduled event, and a refund window will be offered to delegates who cannot attend the new dates or format.

Refund processing

Approved event refunds are processed within 30 business days to the original method of payment, in the original currency. Any bank charges or currency-exchange differences are the responsibility of the delegate.

Memberships

Membership fees are non-refundable once the term has begun. You may cancel at any time; cancellation stops future renewals and you keep access until the end of the current term (see section 09).

Nothing in this section limits any refund right you have under applicable consumer-protection law, including Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act. If we cancel an online course or diploma program and cannot offer a suitable alternative, you will receive a full refund of the fee paid to us.

07Diploma programs

Who awards the diploma, and what it is

Diploma programs offered through Neopeds Academy are professional certificate programs of the Canadian Neonatal POCUS Society® (CNPOCUS), an independent, privately run, non-profit professional medical-education society registered in Canada. CNPOCUS delivers its programs through the Neopeds Academy educational portal and teaches them through experienced Canadian professors practising neonatology and pediatrics at teaching institutions across Canada.

Please read the following disclosures carefully before enrolling:

• Governance. CNPOCUS is not a government authority, statutory body, university or degree-granting institution and does not fall under any national statutory higher-education regulator in Canada. Its diploma programs are governed and authorised internally by the CNPOCUS Executive Board and the CNPOCUS Educational and Steering Committee, which are responsible for curriculum approval, faculty oversight, assessment standards, certification eligibility and quality assurance. Program authorisation and certificate issuance are provided solely by CNPOCUS in accordance with its bylaws and educational governance framework.
• Accreditation status. The diploma programs are not accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, do not confer an academic degree, and do not represent fellowship, residency or university-equivalent training.
• What the diploma is. The diploma is a society-issued professional certification, awarded on successful completion of a structured curriculum, supervised mentorship, competency-based case assessments and a final exit examination. It is intended for skills enhancement only and does not constitute licensure, specialist registration or statutory accreditation in Canada or any other jurisdiction.
• Recognition. Recognition or acceptance of the diploma for employment, privileging, credentialing or licensing purposes remains entirely at the discretion of the relevant regulatory or employing authority in your institution or country. We recommend that you confirm this with your institution before enrolling.

Comprehensive details of each program’s curriculum, governance, assessment process and certification requirements are set out in the official program guide and on the learning portal. CNPOCUS’s full Diploma Program Information and Disclosure statement is available on request from support@cnpocus.org.

Enrolment and program dates

Your place is confirmed by an enrolment letter, issued approximately one week before the start date, stating the program start and end dates, your faculty mentor and the requirements for completion. The program runs for six months from the start date. Modules, assessments and case submissions must all be completed within that period.

Case submissions and scoring

You must submit the number and type of de-identified ultrasound studies specified for your program through our secure case-evaluation portal. Your faculty mentor scores each study from 1 to 5 on technical skill, interpretation and reporting and provides feedback. A score of 4 or higher on at least 15 submitted studies is required to qualify for the exit examination (see below); studies scoring below 4 may be resubmitted within the program period. Completion of the program also requires passing the online modules and assessments and the final exit examination, as described in the program guide. Faculty and committee decisions on scoring and examination results are final. Submitted material is handled strictly as described in section 06 of our Privacy Policy: it is viewed only for scoring and feedback, is never reused, and is deleted when you complete the program.

Eligibility for the exit examination and dismissal

As set out in the program regulations and explained at orientation and onboarding, candidates must satisfy every mandatory requirement of the program — academic, mentorship and case-submission — as described in the program description before they are eligible to sit the final exit examination.

We encourage candidates to submit studies steadily throughout the program rather than close to the deadline, and to contact their faculty mentor early if they are falling behind. Extension and deferral options, and the fees that apply, are set out in section 06.

Your responsibilities

You are responsible for obtaining any approval your institution requires before submitting studies, for ensuring every image, clip and case description is fully de-identified before upload (no patient names, dates of birth, record numbers, hospital identifiers, faces or burned-in text), and for confirming that your clinical role permits you to perform the examinations. Submitting identifiable patient information is a breach of these Terms. All submitted work must be your own; plagiarism, submitting studies performed by someone else, or sharing assessment answers will result in removal from the program without refund.

Extensions, deferrals and withdrawal

If you cannot complete your case submissions by the program end date, you may request a paid extension of up to 90 days; if you need to step away from the program, you may request a single deferral to the next available cohort. The fees and deadlines for cancellation, deferral and extension are set out in section 06. Requests must be sent to the Program Director before the relevant deadline. If you withdraw, or do not complete within the program period (including any extension), your enrolment lapses and no refund is due beyond what section 06 provides.

Diploma award and verification

On successful completion you receive a diploma certificate issued by CNPOCUS. Every diploma certificate includes an embedded QR-code verification feature that allows employers, credentialing bodies and regulators to confirm the certificate’s authenticity and completion details through our registration portal. As set out above, the diploma certifies completion of a society-run professional education program; it is not a professional licence, academic degree, specialist registration or hospital privilege, and does not by itself authorise you to perform or bill for clinical ultrasound. Local credentialing and privileging remain the responsibility of you and your institution.

08Conferences, workshops & symposiums

Registration and tickets

Registration is confirmed when payment is received and a confirmation email is issued. Tickets are personal. You may transfer your registration to a colleague by emailing us with the new attendee’s details up to 7 days before the event, unless the event page states otherwise; the new attendee must meet any eligibility requirements. Hands-on workshops have limited places and may be subject to a waiting list.

Program changes

We work hard to deliver the program as advertised, but speakers, sessions, timings, venues and formats may change for reasons beyond our control. We may convert an in-person event to a virtual or hybrid format, or postpone it, where circumstances (such as public-health restrictions, venue unavailability or travel disruption) make this necessary. Such changes do not entitle you to a refund unless the event is cancelled outright or the change is so substantial that the event no longer serves its advertised purpose, in which case section 06 applies.

Conduct, safety and hands-on scanning

Attendees must behave professionally and respectfully towards faculty, staff, other attendees and any volunteers or models. Harassment, discrimination or disruptive behaviour will result in removal without refund. Hands-on ultrasound practice on volunteer models or simulators is for educational purposes only, must follow faculty instructions, and no diagnostic conclusions may be communicated to a model. Where attendees scan patients in a clinical setting during a workshop, the host institution’s policies and supervision apply. You attend at your own risk and are responsible for your own travel, accommodation, insurance and any visa requirements; we can provide an invitation letter on request but cannot guarantee visa outcomes.

Recordings and photography

Sessions may be recorded and later offered as on-demand content. By participating, you consent to your voice, image and any questions you ask being included in recordings, and to photographs taken at the event being used in our educational and promotional material, unless you tell us at the event that you do not wish to be photographed. Attendees may not record, stream or photograph sessions.

09Memberships & renewals

Membership plans give access to the content library described on the plan page for the term of the plan. Where a plan is set to renew automatically, we will charge your saved payment method at the then-current price on each renewal date until you cancel; we will tell you by email at least 14 days before any price increase takes effect. You can cancel at any time under My Account or by emailing us; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current term, and you keep access until then. Content added to or removed from the library during your term does not affect the price of that term.

10Certificates & CME/CPD credits

A certificate of completion (or attendance, for live events) is issued when you have met the requirements shown on the program page, such as viewing all lessons, passing the assessment or being checked in at the event. Certificates show the name on your account; check it before you start, as re-issuing a certificate with a corrected name may carry a fee. Certificates are available through your account and, where stated, by email.

Where a program is accredited for continuing medical education or continuing professional development, the accreditation statement, credit type and number of credits are shown on the program page. Accreditation is granted by the relevant accrediting body, not by us, and may differ between jurisdictions; it is your responsibility to confirm that credits will be recognised by your own college or licensing authority. A certificate confirms educational activity only and is not a statement of clinical competence, licensure or specialist registration. CNPOCUS diploma certificates carry a QR-code verification feature (see section 07); other certificates can be verified by contacting us with the certificate details.

11Educational purpose, not medical advice; clinical tools

Medicine changes constantly. Although our faculty take care to present current, evidence-based teaching, we make no representation that any Content is complete, accurate, up to date or applicable to a particular patient, device or setting. You are solely responsible for every clinical decision you make, for verifying information against current guidelines and product labelling, and for practising within your licence, training and scope.

Our clinical tools — calculators, reference charts, algorithms and decision-support aids — are provided “as is” as convenience aids for trained clinicians. They are not medical devices, have not been approved by any regulator, and may contain errors. Always verify inputs and outputs independently before acting on them. Neopeds Academy, its directors, faculty and staff accept no responsibility for any diagnostic, therapeutic or other clinical decision made using our Content or tools, or for any resulting patient outcome.

12Intellectual property & acceptable use

The Services and all Content are protected by Canadian and international copyright, trademark and other intellectual-property laws and are owned by or licensed to Neopeds Academy. “Neopeds Academy”, our logo and program names are our trademarks. Nothing in these Terms transfers any ownership to you. You may not use our name, logo or faculty names to imply endorsement without written permission.

You agree not to:

• download, record, screen-capture, copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, sell, rent, sub-license or publicly display any Content, or make it available to anyone who has not purchased it;
• share your login credentials or allow anyone else to use your account;
• use any Content, or any data obtained from the Services, to train, fine-tune or evaluate artificial-intelligence or machine-learning systems, or to build a competing product or service;
• circumvent access controls, scrape the website, use bots or automated tools, or attempt to probe, disrupt or gain unauthorised access to our systems or other users’ accounts;
• upload viruses, malicious code, or material that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, discriminatory, infringing, or that contains identifiable patient information;
• impersonate any person, misrepresent your credentials or affiliation, or use the Services for any unlawful purpose.

We may monitor use of the Services for security and compliance and may remove Content or suspend access where we reasonably believe these Terms have been breached. If you believe material on our website infringes your copyright, email support@neopedsacademy.org with details of the work and its location and we will investigate promptly.

13Your content & case submissions

You may contribute material to the Services, such as discussion posts, questions, assignments, feedback and testimonials (“User Content”). You retain ownership of your User Content. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, display and reproduce it within the Services for the purpose of delivering the program and, for feedback and testimonials, to quote it in our materials with your permission. You confirm that your User Content is your own, is lawful, contains no identifiable patient information and does not infringe anyone else’s rights. We may remove User Content that breaches these Terms.

Case submissions are different. De-identified ultrasound studies and case details submitted to our diploma case-evaluation portal are governed by section 07 of these Terms and section 06 of our Privacy Policy. The licence in the previous paragraph does not apply to them: we use them only to score your study and give feedback, we do not reuse them for any other purpose, and we delete them when you complete the program.

14Email & SMS communications

We send transactional emails (receipts, joining instructions, program notices) to everyone who purchases or registers; these are part of the Services. Marketing emails are sent only with your consent and always include an unsubscribe link.

SMS terms

If you opt in to text messages from Neopeds Academy, you consent to receive SMS messages about your registrations, program reminders and updates, and — where you have agreed — announcements about upcoming courses, conferences, workshops and symposiums. Message frequency varies but you are unlikely to receive more than four messages per month. Message and data rates may apply according to your carrier’s plan. Reply STOP at any time to opt out; you will receive one final message confirming your opt-out. Reply HELP for help, or email support@neopedsacademy.org. Neither we nor the carriers are liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Your mobile number and opt-in data are handled as described in our Privacy Policy and are never sold or shared with third parties for their marketing.

15Third-party services

The Services rely on third-party providers — including Stripe for payments, Zoom or similar platforms for live webinars, Jotform for the case-evaluation portal, and our live-chat provider — and may link to external websites, videos and resources. Those services are governed by their own terms and privacy policies, which you accept when you use them. We are not responsible for the content, availability or practices of third-party sites and services, and a link does not imply endorsement.

16Availability, changes & termination

We aim to keep the Services available at all times but cannot guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access. We may suspend the Services for maintenance, updates or security reasons, and we may modify, replace or retire Content, features or programs. Where a program you have purchased is withdrawn before your access period ends, we will offer equivalent content or a pro-rated refund.

We may suspend or terminate your account and access, without refund, if you materially breach these Terms — including sharing credentials, redistributing Content, submitting identifiable patient information, academic dishonesty, abusive conduct or non-payment — or where required by law. Where practical we will warn you first. You may close your account at any time by contacting us; closure does not entitle you to a refund except as set out in section 06. Sections 05, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19 and 20 survive termination.

17Disclaimers & limitation of liability

The Services and Content are provided “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, non-infringement and uninterrupted availability, and any warranty that the Content will achieve a particular educational or clinical outcome.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Neopeds Academy and its directors, officers, faculty, employees, contractors and partners will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of profit, revenue, data, goodwill or opportunity, or for any clinical decision, patient outcome, professional or credentialing consequence, arising from or connected with the Services, however caused and whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility. Our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising from the Services in any 12-month period is limited to the amount you paid us for the program giving rise to the claim during that period.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranties or liabilities to be excluded or limited. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded by law, and nothing in these Terms limits the rights you have as a consumer under applicable law.

18Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Neopeds Academy and its directors, officers, faculty, employees and partners from any claims, losses, damages, liabilities and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, your User Content or case submissions (including any failure to de-identify patient information or to obtain required institutional approvals), your clinical practice, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

19Governing law & disputes

These Terms and any dispute arising from them or from the Services are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable there, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. If you have a concern, please contact us first — we will try in good faith to resolve it within 30 days. Any dispute that cannot be resolved this way will be brought exclusively in the courts of Ontario sitting in Hamilton, and you and we each submit to their jurisdiction. If you are a consumer, this does not deprive you of any protection or right to bring a claim in your own jurisdiction that applicable law gives you. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

20General terms

21Contact us

Questions about these Terms, refund requests, transfers, extensions and copyright notices should be sent to the address below. For diploma-program and institutional enquiries you may also email support@cnpocus.org.