Course Director: Dr. Anita Sarmah
Course Duration: 2 weeks

The two-week Anaesthesia course is based on a 'flipped classroom' model. Students are required to complete seven e-modules. The rotation includes two days of simulation training at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. The first day includes a comprehensive training on IV skills, airway management and fluid responsiveness using ultrasound. Case scenarios are used to teach ACLS protocols and communication skills during critical events in a simulated operating room. During the exit simulation day, the students rotate through preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative scenarios that reinforce the content in the e-modules. There is an interactive Jeopardy quiz to reinforce course learning objectives. For clinical shifts, you are assigned to a faculty staff member in the operating room, labour floor, pre-admission clinic, or pain service, where one-on-one teaching is provided. You assist in all aspects of anesthetic care. There is no overnight call.

Chief Examiner: Dr. Fok-Han Leung

The Clerkship Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a transcripted assessment situated within the clinical skills curriculum occurring after the first half of clerkship is complete. The exact timing of the Clerkship OSCE will vary slightly each academic year and will be dependent on the Year 3 Clerkship schedule. 

Students will be assessed on clinical content areas that they were exposed to the in the first half of clerkship. The assessment blueprint will cover key areas as outlined in the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) blueprint including the dimensions of care provided by physicians (i.e. health promotion and illness prevention, acute, chronic, psychosocial) and key physician activities (assessment/diagnosis, management, communication and professional behaviours). The OSCE stations will focus on content from both the Clerkship Course Objectives and the MCC’s Clinical Presentations and Diagnoses.

Course Director: Dr. Jordan Goodridge
Course Duration: Weeks 62 through 72

CNC takes place during the last 11 weeks of the 72-week Foundations Curriculum. CNC is the sixth course and integrates teaching around the care of complex and/or vulnerable patient populations while reinforcing and building upon challenging topics that have been previously covered in the curriculum. Important topics including the approach to surgical patients, trauma, pain management, and public health outbreaks are also addressed.

A particular focus in this course will be on the care of individuals with multiple medical and non-medical issues. The course is intended to reflect the increasingly complex real-world patient populations in clinical practice. Complexity case weeks will encourage students to think critically about approaches to complex patient presentations, preparing them for similar real-life cases during third and fourth year. CNC ends with two weeks called “Clinician in Action” which act as a consolidation of knowledge in Foundations, and continue the transition to clerkship learning with simulated, large-group cases that are discipline specific (including family medicine, emergency medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry, obstetrics and surgery). The weeks support clerkship preparation that continues with the Transition to Clerkship course in year 3. 

Overall, CNC provides students with:

1. Review, consolidation and integration of content from previous Foundations courses to date
2. An introduction to patient complexity and patients with multisystem concerns that cross multiple domains (physical, mental health, psychosocial or health systems challenges)
3. Skills and knowledge to prepare them for entry into clerkship and further encounters with real-world patients

Patient-centred clinical cases are used to bring together foundational disciplines relevant to the study and practice of medicine, in a manner that promotes their cognitive integration by students. Each course week has its own objectives and assessments that contribute to the overall course objectives and final assessment, as well as to student achievement of the MD program’s key and enabling competencies.

[Students who entered prior to 2018-2019 completed MED110Y for weeks 12 through 36 in Year 1]

Course Director: Dr. Robert Goldberg
Course Duration: Weeks 9 through 24

CPC 1 is the first of three courses, all named Concepts Patients and Communities (1, 2 and 3 respectively) that employ the organizing structure of the human body’s physiological systems to offer students an integrated approach to clinical medicine. CPC 1 includes an introduction to pediatrics and health promotion followed by body systems that are responsible for host defence and oxygen delivery encompassing both normal and diseased states. It is divided into 8 sections: Pediatrics (1 week); Health Promotion (1 week); Microbiology (2 weeks); Immunology (2 weeks); Blood (2 weeks); Dermatology (1 week); Cardiovascular (4 weeks); and Respiratory (3 weeks).

Overall, CPC 1 provides students with:

1. Integration of clinical manifestations, diagnosis, management and/or prevention of diseases of the systems described above with a focus on patient-centred clinical cases allowing students to develop clinical reasoning skills
2. Integration of the foundational, social sciences, and humanities learned throughout the CPC courses to promote the development of cognitive integration skills
3. Development of an expanding skill set of professional behaviours between students, teaching staff and patients

Patient-centred clinical cases are used to bring together foundational disciplines relevant to the study and practice of medicine, in a manner that promotes their cognitive integration by students. Each course week has its own objectives and assessments that contribute to the overall course objectives and final assessment, as well as to student achievement of the MD program’s key and enabling competencies.

[Students who entered prior to 2018-2019 completed MED110Y for weeks 12 through 36 in Year 1]

Course Director: Dr. Savannah Cardew
Course Duration: Weeks 25 through 36

CPC 2 takes place during weeks 25-36 of the 72-week Foundations Curriculum. CPC 2 is the second of the three CPC courses that employ the organizing structure of the human body’s physiological systems to offer students an integrated approach to clinical medicine. CPC 2 includes body systems that are responsible for hormone regulation, gut health and renal and genitourinary medicine in humans encompassing both normal and diseased states. It is further divided into 3 sections: Endocrinology (4 weeks); Gastroenterology (4 weeks); and Genitourinary medicine (3 weeks).

Overall, CPC 2 provides students with:

1. Integration of clinical manifestations, diagnosis, management and/or prevention of diseases of the systems described above with a focus on patient-centred clinical cases allowing students to develop clinical reasoning skills
2. Integration of the foundational, social sciences, and humanities learned throughout the CPC courses to promote the development of  cognitive integration skills
3. Development of an expanding skill set of professional behaviours between students, teaching staff and patients

Patient-centred clinical cases are used to bring together foundational disciplines relevant to the study and practice of medicine, in a manner that promotes their cognitive integration by students. Each course week has its own objectives and assessments that contribute to the overall course objectives and final assessment, as well as to student achievement of the MD program’s key and enabling competencies.

Course Director: Dr. Evelyn Rozenblyum
Course Duration: Weeks 37 through 52

CPC 3 takes place during weeks 37-52 of the 72-week Foundations Curriculum. CPC 3 is the last of the three CPC courses that employ the organizing structure of the human body’s physiological systems to offer students an integrated approach to clinical medicine. CPC 3 includes body systems that are responsible for movement, sensation, cognition, and behaviour in humans encompassing both normal and diseased states. It is further divided into 4 sections: Musculoskeletal (3 weeks); Psychiatric (4 weeks); Neurologic (6 weeks); and Special Senses (3 weeks).

Overall, CPC 3 provides students with:

1. Integration of clinical manifestations, diagnosis, management and/or prevention of diseases of the systems described above with a focus on patient-centred clinical cases allowing students to develop clinical reasoning skills
2. Integration of the foundational, social sciences, and humanities learned throughout the CPC courses to promote the development of cognitive integration skills
3. Development of an expanding skill set of professional behaviours between students, teaching staff and patients

Patient-centred clinical cases are used to bring together foundational disciplines relevant to the study and practice of medicine, in a manner that promotes their cognitive integration by students. Each course week has its own objectives and assessments that contribute to the overall course objectives and final assessment, as well as to student achievement of the MD program’s key and enabling competencies.

Course Director:  Dr. Kimberley Kitto
Course Duration: Minimum 13 Weeks

This fourth year course provides students with the opportunity to explore career possibilities, to gain  
experience in aspects of medicine beyond the core curriculum, and to gain knowledge and skills in greater depth.   

Students have the opportunity to independently set up  elective experiences at sites affiliated with the University of Toronto, non-urban and rural clinical sites, as well as electives with medical schools across Canada.   

Aside from clinical electives, students may have the opportunity to complete research electives.

Over a 16-week period, students must complete a minimum of 13 weeks of electives to meet course  
requirements and are required to follow the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) 
electives diversification policy and UofT’s three discipline rule. Students may complete 2 weeks of electives in their third year between May and June to permit early career exploration and maximize their learning experience. 

Course Director: Dr. Michelle Klaiman
Associate Course Director: Dr. Adam Kaufman
Course Duration: 4 weeks

The four-week Emergency Medicine course commences with three days of hands-on workshops and seminars utilizing simulation, skills-based teaching, and case-based interactive sessions. These sessions provide opportunities to acquire essential knowledge and skills in preparation for clinical experience, and cover topics that include medical imaging, airway management, cardiac dysrhythmias, trauma, ultrasound, toxicology, chest pain, wound management, and splinting. Students are then placed at one of the ten Emergency Departments in the Greater Toronto Area to complete 13 shifts, including up to two weekends and up to two overnight shifts. During the clinical experience you function as members of an interprofessional team and are assigned one or two preceptors with whom at least half their shifts occur. Each clerk spends half a shift with members of the interprofessional team. You learn to manage many types of patient problems that present to the Emergency Department, including exposure to core emergency medicine cases. There are additional opportunities to perform basic procedures (intravenous insertion, venipuncture, foley catheter insertion, NG insertion, ECG) and observe the triage process. 

Course Director: Dr. Sherylan Young
Associate Course Director: Dr. Sharonie Valin
Course Duration: 6 weeks

The six-week Family and Community Medicine course begins with centrally delivered core seminars for the first two days. Core seminars include: orientation, family violence, motivational interviewing, palliative care and geriatrics. Students will also participate in site-specific seminars and complete mandatory e-modules online for other core content topics.

Students then go to their respective sites to start the clinical portion of the rotation, which includes 1:1 preceptoring in an ambulatory office setting. Students will work with their preceptors as well as some allied health care providers throughout the rotation. Clinical rotations are distributed across 18 sites including large academic teaching units to rural placements, coordinated through the Rural Ontario Medical Program (ROMP). Students are also required to complete a small project, which is presented, midway through the rotation. The course syllabus is online (https://meded.utoronto.ca/medicine/community/fcm310y_83_86_98_104_109_113:handbook_syllabus).

The course exposes students to various comprehensive care models and strives to have students learn in an interprofessional environment. 

Course Director: Dr. Luke Devine
Course Duration: 8 weeks

The eight-week Internal Medicine course begins with an interactive, case-based seminar series and physical examination review session for one and a half days. Each clerk is assigned to a single Internal Medicine Team for the entire rotation. A sub-group of students may choose a dedicated ambulatory care experience for 1-2 weeks. Over the entire length of the course, there is a graduated experience with increasing responsibility. You have the opportunity to perform the admitting history and physical examinations on patients who present to the Emergency Room and require Internal Medicine (IM) Consultation.  You will be asked to provide a provisional diagnosis and differential diagnosis, and to construct an investigation and management plan. You also provide ongoing direct patient care for your assigned patients, under supervision. Later in the rotation, you carry up to six patients and have enhanced responsibilities for patients while on call. Support is provided by other members of the team, including the attending physician and supervising residents. You are also assigned approximately four half-days in ambulatory clinics and non-IM ward experiences to provide you with an opportunity to learn about how care is delivered to medical patients in this setting.

Course Director: Dr. Christopher Gilchrist
Course Duration: Weeks 1 through 8

ITM takes place during the first 8 weeks of the 72-week Foundations Curriculum. Each week of ITM introduces students to key concepts and foundational knowledge which they will build on throughout the two years of the Foundations curriculum.

Overall, ITM provides students with:

1. a broad introduction to the language and culture of medicine
2. a solid preparation in foundational and social sciences, and humanities for further study in later courses
3. a basis for the development of professional behaviours among students and between students and the teaching staff

Patient-centred clinical cases are used to bring together foundational disciplines relevant to the study and practice of medicine, in a manner that promotes their cognitive integration by students. Each course week has its own objectives and assessments that contribute to the overall course objectives and final assessment, as well as to student achievement of the MD program’s key and enabling competencies.

Course Director: Dr. Jennifer Sy
Course Duration: Weeks 53 through 61

LC takes place during weeks 53-61 of the 72-week Foundations Curriculum. The LC course is organized by clinical disciplines as opposed to body systems, and covers the human life span including, reproduction, life stages and palliative care.  This course is an opportunity to integrate and apply topics that have been previously covered in the curriculum. LC is divided into the following sections: Gynecology and Sex- and Gender- Based Medicine (2 weeks); Obstetrics (2 weeks); Neonate and Infant, Child, Adolescent (3 weeks); and Geriatrics and Palliative Care (2 weeks).

Overall, LC provides students with:

1. Application of basic medical science knowledge with the clinical presentation, diagnosis, management, and/or prevention of diseases in the clinical disciplines described above with an emphasis on a symptoms-based approach and the development of clinical reasoning skills
2. Integration of foundational medical science with social sciences and humanities to enhance knowledge, skills, and attitudes in providing patient- and family-centred care
3. Further development of professional attitudes and behaviours among students and between students, teaching staff, and patients

Patient-centred clinical cases are used to bring together foundational disciplines relevant to the study and practice of medicine, in a manner that promotes their cognitive integration by students. Each course week has its own objectives and assessments that contribute to the overall course objectives and final assessment, as well as to student achievement of the MD program’s key and enabling competencies.

Course Director: Dr. Kimberley Kitto
Course Duration: 8 to 30 weeks

This course offers MD students who do not match to a residency program added curricular time to pursue electives between May and December to maximize their career exploration. A minimum of 8 weeks of electives must be completed either at the University of Toronto, affiliated northern and non-urban practices, and/or medical schools across Canada. The AFMC diversification policy will apply anew, and previously completed electives will not be carried over towards the 8-week limit.

Students will receive tailored support from the Office of Learner Affairs and the Electives Office. Supports include career counsellors and MD program faculty in career planning, mentorship, development of application dossiers and interviewing skills for reapplication to CaRMS. Students who take part in the MD Extended Clerkship are required to delay graduation until June of the following year, so that they are eligible to pursue a more fulsome suite of elective opportunities. Students registered in the MD Extended Clerkship are bound by University of Toronto, Temerty Faculty of Medicine and MD Program policies and regulations, including those regarding professionalism and academic conduct.

Course Director: Dr. Dini Hui
Associate Course Director: Dr. Cici Zhu
Course Duration: 6 weeks

The six-week Obstetrics and Gynaecology rotation offers a variety of clinical activities related to all aspects women’s health care, including rotations in labour and delivery, inpatient antenatal and postpartum units, antenatal clinics, gynaecologic ambulatory care, inpatient gynaecology units, the operating room and in emergency department consultations as they pertain to OBGYN concerns. In addition to clinical activities, a program of daily small-group teaching seminars on a range of obstetrical and gynaecological topics takes place at the primary sites. Further to the seminar series, each hospital site also conducts its own set of grand rounds which students are expected to attend. Students are assigned to one of seven main teaching hospital sites with community-based subrotation experiences available as well.

Course Director: Dr. Hosanna Au
Course Duration: 6 weeks

The Paediatrics course begins with a full day of orientation seminars and small group teaching sessions at SickKids. There is a second ‘day back’ for Neonatology Teaching and Exam Review near the end of the rotation. In their clinical placements, students are exposed to a combination of ambulatory and inpatient paediatrics. Students are either in a paediatric setting at a Community Hospital for 6 weeks, or at SickKids on paediatric wards or in the Emergency Department for 3 weeks and in an ambulatory Paediatric practice for 3 weeks. Learning is hands-on through patient assessment and discussion. Learning resources include the Paeds-on-the-Go Handbook, web-based e-modules on core topics on Elentra, a study guide, and practice MCQs.

Co-Director, Clerkship: Dr. Lindsay Herzog
Co-Director, Foundations: Dr. Tanvi Agarwal
Course Duration: Year 3 – Longitudinal

In third year, the Portfolio course continues to facilitate professional and personal development through guided reflection. Portfolio encourages students to develop their knowledge of the six non-Medical Expert CanMEDS roles of Collaborator, Communicator, Leader, Health Advocate, Scholar and Professional. Through critical self reflection of their clinical experiences in third year, students will learn to navigate and integrate these core competencies into their professional identities. The various CanMEDS roles are incorporated throughout the six themed sessions which take place over the academic year. Examples of the themed topics include Patient Safety, Resilience and Wellness, Power Dynamic and the Hidden Curriculum, Dying and Death, and Humility and Uncertainty. There are two summative assessment components to the evaluation of Portfolio: the Process Component and the Written Component. The Process component consists of mandatory attendance at six small-group meetings, where the themed reflections are shared in student groups of approximately eight, with one resident (Junior Scholar) and one faculty member (Academy Scholar). During the meeting, Scholars provide support in developing reflections on clinical experiences, and their meaning and impact on personal and professional development. There are also two mandatory one-on-one Progress Review meetings with the Academy Scholar throughout the academic year, where students have an opportunity to develop personal learning plans and reflect on assessment data in their MD Program Learner Chart. The Written Component of the evaluation includes six thematic session reflections and two progress review reports. The assigned reflections are marked with a pass/fail grade and offer formative feedback based on the Portfolio Assessment Rubric. There is also at least one MD Program Professionalism form completed per year. 

Co-Director, Clerkship: Dr. Lindsay Herzog
Co-Director, Foundations: Dr. Tanvi Agarwal
Course Duration: Longitudinal

In the fourth year of Portfolio, students solidify their foundation in critical self-reflection through discussion and written assignments designed to consolidate their knowledge of the intrinsic CanMeds roles, and their personal and professional journey into newly graduating physicians. Portfolio guides students in assessing their progress as professionals, as well as provides an opportunity for reflection in preparation for the CaRMS process and transition to postgraduate training. Students and Scholars will continue with the same groups from the previous year to maintain continuity and integrity of the group and relationships. The Process component of the course consists of two mandatory small-group meetings centered on themed topics, including “CaRMS Preparation” and “The Physician I Aspire to Be,” and one Progress Review Meeting with the Academy Scholar. The Written component contains one thematic reflection and progress review report. The written reflection and progress review report are evaluated using the same format used in Year 3 Portfolio. In addition, an MD Program Professionalism form will be completed at least once over the year.  

Course Director: Dr. Carla Garcia
Associate Course Director: Dr. Kien Dang
Course Duration: 6 weeks

The six-week Psychiatry course clinical experience may take place in a variety of settings including inpatient units, outpatient clinics, consultation liaison teams, and emergency settings. An integral component of the course is interviewing patients with anxiety, mood, psychosis, cognitive, and substance disorders with focus on symptomatology, diagnosis, and basic treatment principles. All clerks will have exposure to psychiatric emergencies mostly by taking night and weekend on-call not exceeding one in five, until 11 p.m. Clinical experience with children and families take place during two half-days in a child psychiatry setting under the direct supervision of a child psychiatrist. Seminars are held weekly at each hospital site and include case based learning as well as interviewing skills and dealing with challenging personality styles.

Course Director: Dr. Jory Simpson
Course Duration: 8 weeks

This 8-week course commences with a 2-day centralized program, “Prelude to Surgery,” which provides an orientation and introduction to important surgical topics. Learners then rotate through two 3-week sub-rotations, one in General Surgery and the other in a surgery specialty they selected. Students become active members of a surgical team and contribute to the admissions and daily patient care. They are expected to attend the operating room and the clinic/office of surgical faculty. The on-call schedule is one night in four with General Surgery being in-house but may vary based on site. Subspecialty call is also approximately one in four nights. On call provides learners with the opportunity to see acute patients in the ER, surgical ward, and operating room. There is an end of rotation multiple choice examination and oral exam. Students are also expected to complete EPAs while on this rotation.

Course Director: Dr. Kien Dang
Course Duration: 1 week

The Transition to Clerkship (TTC310Y) course strives to assist students in developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes they require to successfully transition from their role as a student in the Foundations curriculum, to a member of the healthcare team as a clinical clerk. The course builds on the very substantial learning from the first two years of the MD program and provides students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the skills required to begin their clerkship rotations. TTC is delivered using both virtual and in-person teaching. Learning events take place on campus as well as at academies and consist of large and small group interactive learning sessions, immersion and shadowing experiences, as well as registration tasks (e.g. mask-fit testing, computer systems training) and practical skills (order writing, managing violent patients).

Course Directors:  Dr. Kien Dang
Course Duration: 10 Weeks

The 10-week Transition to Residency (TTR) course occurs during the final 10 weeks of the MD Program, and is designed to bring together and build upon many of the concepts students have learned about functioning as doctors. The course has two main themes: understanding the health care needs individual members of diverse groups within the Canadian population, and learning to use the health care system to meet those needs. The course is comprised of two 'campus weeks' which contain both independent and classroom based learning activities, four selectives clinical placements over eight weeks.