Other FAQs about the Foundations Curriculum
Other FAQs about the Foundations Curriculum
How does the Foundations Curriculum connect with what makes Toronto special in the medical world?
How much contact with patients will there be?
What about anatomic dissection?
Do I have to do research? Can I do research?
How will students from different backgrounds manage this new curriculum?
Are there going to be changes to the Clerkship curriculum as well?
How does the Foundations Curriculum connect with what makes Toronto special in the medical world?
Students will have an excellent opportunity to meet with and learn about patients from the diverse communities that make up Toronto. They will be able to learn in the many outstanding clinical and research facilities in Toronto. They will have contact with dozens of outstanding teachers from every possible clinical discipline. The program is planned by a great diversity of education leaders, including experts in medical education from the internationally famous Wilson Centre for Research in Education. Students will have abundant opportunities to learn in depth about all of the roles they need to master as they become physicians. All of these opportunities are supported by an outstanding network of leaders in curriculum, student affairs, and all areas of counseling.
Will there still be lectures?
Large-group lectures will continue to be important, for purposes of providing orientation and context, and in order to summarize key learning issues. Lectures will have a much smaller role to play with respect to simply transmitting information. This will be done through other means, including online resources, short recorded videos and podcasts, and carefully selected readings.
How much contact with patients will there be?
This will occur in the ICE program both during the Art and Science of Clinical Medicine sessions; and, during the various other ICE activities including longitudinal clinical experiences and community-based activities. The other major place for contact with patients will be during the unscheduled time each week, when students will be able to pursue individualized clinical “shadowing” activities, which involve observing the work of physicians in various settings.
What about group learning?
Students will learn in groups in multiple settings: during the case-based learning sessions in TOPIC, during bedside sessions in the ICE program; during portfolio sessions; during community visits in ICE; among others. This represents an important increase form the current curriculum, and provides students with a greater opportunity to learn to work with others, to give and receive feedback from peers, which are all essential abilities for the team-based health care system of the future. Students will also work closely with faculty members during these sessions, which will give faculty a better sense of how students are doing.
What about anatomic dissection?
Dissection of cadavers has long been a centerpiece of medical education at U of T, and such dissection will continue to be used in the Foundations Curriculum. It will be more focused, and supplemented to a greater degree by already-dissected specimens, and online and other digital resources.
What about free time?
As described above, there is the equivalent of an unscheduled day each week across the two years of the Foundations Curriculum. This is available for self-study, for students to pursue shadowing opportunities (observing physicians doing clinical and other work in various settings), taking part in research or community activities, among many other opportunities.
Do I have to do research? Can I do research?
All students will learn about research during the Health Science Research course, with an emphasis on learning skills needed to participate effectively in a research project, and to interpret the findings of research studies to help with patient care.
In addition, students have many opportunities to actually participate in research projects, although this is not a requirement of the program. This includes several programs that take place in the summers after first and second year, and also some opportunities to pursue projects in various settings during the course of the school year. There are several programs that provide funding support to many medical students for summertime research work. The range of projects available for students to engage in is simply enormous, covering every imaginable area of health research.
What about examinations?
Examinations will be used in two ways: first, they will be used to provide students with feedback about their progress in learning, and areas where they need to particularly focus to ensure they are on the right track. Second, information from various assessments, will be used in the aggregate to ensure students are meeting minimum standards to continue to progress in the program, and to provide a basis for remediation for those who have some struggles. These assessments will include written examination questions, clinical skills assessments, measures of individual contributions to group learning, of community-based activities, of learning from online modules, of laboratory-based skills exercises, among others.
How will students from different backgrounds manage this new curriculum?
We think the Foundations Curriculum is ideally suited for students from various backgrounds. We know students come to medical school with some basic knowledge of life sciences, and we will ensure through their exposure to Unit 1 that all students have reached the required level of basic biomedical and social science knowledge required to do well in the rest of the program. We will provide students with early assessments of their progress and sufficient unscheduled time ensure they are prepared to move on.
The diversity of subject areas covered in the Foundations Curriculum – which reflects the complex skill set required of today’s physicians – should also appeal to students from many backgrounds. This should allow students to share their strengths with one another as they support their colleagues.
Are there going to be changes to the Clerkship curriculum as well?
The Clerkship program is constantly evolving.