2023 - 2024 PGME Program Updates

Message from the Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical Education

Over the past year, we have watched the PGME community continue to flourish and grow as we had the opportunity to engage in a number of events together. It is a great joy to connect with our learners, faculty and staff at welcome receptions, community building events, strategic retreats and award celebrations throughout the year. I look forward to welcoming new fellows and residents into our community in July.

We had plenty to celebrate in 2023-24 with several of our community members being recognized through awards. Highlights included 19 successful research award recipients receiving more than $200,000 in funding and two residents being recognized with Professional Association of Residents of Ontario Resident Teaching Awards.

I am also excited to share the amazing work our Faculty Leads have accomplished over the past year. We welcomed new leads in the Curriculum, Accreditation, Assessment, Admission and Fellowship portfolios and their dedication and creativity greatly contribute the continued growth and improvement of our postgraduate medical education programs. The Indigenous Health faculty lead has supported the development and delivery of PGME-wide curriculum and collaborated closely with the Office of Indigenous Health to build a community of support. The Temerty Faculty of Medicine Black Health theme lead has made numerous contributions including tailoring supports specifically for Black learners and advocating for the creation of a new PGME Black Health Theme Lead position, beginning in July 2024.

In the 2023-2024 academic year we added 15 new PGY1 positions as PGME expands to meet the province’s goal of increased residency spots. By 2029, we will have added 67 new postgraduate PGY1 positions as part of the province’s commitment to grow Ontario residency spots. I am grateful to all of our Program Directors, Site Directors, faculty members and staff who rise to the challenge of accommodating new learners and partner sites to help achieve this goal.

I am very proud of all that our team has achieved over this past year and hope you share in our excitement for the future as you read through our highlights.

Professor Meredith Giuliani
Associate Dean, PGME
Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Program Innovations

Accreditation

Three additional Faculty Leads, Internal Reviews were welcomed to the PGME team to help support residency and AFC programs as we enter our 2024-2026 internal review cycle. The focus of this internal review cycle is on supporting programs to reduce the burden of the workload associated with accreditation and to emphasize the continuous improvement aspect of the internal review process. To facilitate this, an innovative new format was developed in which the program self-study and the internal review documentation are combined.

Portfolio updates and integration of new Faculty Leads

Throughout the 2023-24 academic year, our Faculty Leads have dedicated their time and expertise to move forward important initiatives that fall under their portfolios. In 2023, PGME introduced new faculty leads in Curriculum (Dr. Heather McDonald-Blumer), Mentorship (Dr. Jennifer Croke), and Fellowship (Dr. John Granton). In 2024, we will introduce two new faculty leads in Admissions & Transitions (Dr. David Chan) and Black Health (Dr. Jamal Depradine).

Curriculum

As the inaugural Faculty Lead, Curriculum, Dr. McDonald-Blumer identified three main areas of focus for the portfolio: Competence by Design 2.0, core and enriched shared curricula and assessing outcomes. To help inform the work of the curriculum portfolio Dr. McDonald-Blumer will work closely with a Postgraduate Curriculum Committee with representation from across the postgraduate enterprise and links to undergraduate and continuing education leaders.

Fellowship

Under the Fellowship Portfolio, Dr. John Granton created new opportunities for networking and collaboration for fellows and directors through welcome events and strategic retreats. The Fellowship Portfolio is also working to develop resources and tools to encourage fair, transparent, and equitable opportunities to applicants from diverse backgrounds.

Mentorship

Dr. Jennifer Croke is leading a mentorship program developed for new Program Directors of Royal College accredited programs under the new Mentorship Portfolio. The pilot cohort recently completed the program and a mixed-methods program evaluation is ongoing. Twenty-four mentee-mentor dyads were created to date. Regular virtual orientation sessions are held every 3-4 months for new dyads. Several networking/social events were held on topics such as Learners in Difficulty, Learner Wellness, and Faculty Promotions and Career Advancement. Opportunities for program expansion throughout PGME are being explored.

Indigenous Health

The Indigenous Health portfolio, led by Dr. Ryan Giroux, had a highly collaborative year. Working with the Faculty Lead, Curriculum, PGME-wide guidelines were developed for Indigenous Health foundational, speciality-specific, and experiential learning. We partnered with Surgical Foundations and were the first program to deliver the Royal College Indigenous Health Foundations curriculum with surgical additions to this curriculum. We supported other programs in delivery of curriculum and advised on curricular interventions. We continue to prepare for the expected new institution accreditation standards on Indigenous health and anti-racism. We engaged medical students, residents, and faculty, with the Office of Indigenous Health, to develop a community of support throughout the continuum of training.

Black Health

Dr. Mireille Norris is Black Health Theme Lead for the Temerty Faculty of Medicine (TFOM). She has been actively engaged in Temerty Medicine’s Learner Wellness Advisory Committee, advocating for increased provision of mental health resources tailored to Black residents and fellows. She shed light within TFOM on the crucial need for race-concordant mentors for Black residents through a pan-Canadian study that showcases how mentorship positively impacts resident wellness, aids in navigating work-life balance, addresses microaggressions, shapes career plans, and enriches academic life.

Dr. Norris collaborated with the PGME Fellowship Director to address issues concerning Black International Medical Graduates. She also actively advocated for Black residents to enhance opportunities within the residency application process. As a result, there is a more inclusive application process and educational climate, and increased representation of Black residents within PGME. She also successfully advocated for the creation of a new PGME Black Health Theme Lead position, which will commence July 2024 with Dr. Jamal Depradine as the inaugural lead. At that time, Dr. Norris’ role will transition to focus on UGME.

Organizational growth and staff changes

Over the past year the PGME office has focused on bolstering our office staff to better support program and learner needs. Three new PGME manager positions were created to improve workload and workflow, as outlined below. The current roles that support PGME can be seen on our organizational chart.

Manager, Education Technology and Systems Management

Carolina Mitchell is Manager, Education Technology and Systems Management. This role was created to oversee and coordinate the day-to-day work of the PGME Systems team and contribute to the development, planning and implementation of technology systems and strategies.

Manager, Curriculum & Learner Assessment

Melissa Hynes is Manager, Curriculum & Learner Assessment and provides leadership and managerial oversight of curriculum and learner assessment activities, including the development of strategic priorities, business processes and best practices for curriculum implementation, and evaluation frameworks.

Manager, Admissions & Registration

Janine Hubbard is Manager, Admissions & Registration and provides leadership and managerial oversight of the admissions and registration activities of our numerous residency and fellowship programs, including development of strategic priorities, business processes, and best practices for registration and admissions activities.

Key statistics, expansion & communication tools

Key statistics

PGME offers more than 100 accredited programs and has over 4000 residents and fellows currently completing their training through Temerty Medicine.

Accredited Programs

Royal College Programs: 75
Family Medicine & Sites: 26
AFC Programs: 15

Elective Learners: 1000+

New PGME website

We are pleased to share the launch of the new PGME website, a key project in the 2023-24 academic year. The new website allows for improved navigation and easy access to information and resources that are essential to PGME learners, faculty and staff. In addition to an improved user experience, the new website is AODA compliant and compatible with mobile devices. Our improved website also serves as a vital communications tool to share news, events and achievements with the wider PGME community.

Expansion

PGME is adding 67 new postgraduate PGY1 positions as part of the province’s commitment to grow Ontario residency spots by 449. Thirty-one of U of T’s new PGY1 positions have been added to date.

	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	2027-28	2028-29	Total
Family Medicine	6	8	12	5	2	40
RC Specialty	9	8	6	0	1	27
Total	15	16	18	5	3	67

In Family Medicine, nine of the 40 expansion PGY1 positions are being added at a new Humber River Health family medicine teaching unit (FMTU). Additional FMTUs are being explored in Scarborough, Midland and Orillia to accommodate more of the expansion.

Ten specialty programs are developing plans to expand core rotations and/or build CaRMS streams at Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga and at Scarborough Health Network (SHN). The ten programs are: Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Urology.

PGME will provide faculty development to support program expansion activities, including a Scarborough Summit that took place on May 1^st for SHN faculty and preceptors, as well as workshops on competency-by-design, and access to other continuing faculty development programs such as Teaching and Learning in the Clinical Context (TLC) and New and Evolving Academic Leaders (NEAL).

Education Scholarship

PGME engaged in a number of scholarship activities during the 2023-24 academic year. Leaders and other representatives from the PGME community presented at national and international medical education conferences and published in a variety of journals.

Review details about scholarly activities by representatives from the PGME Office