Advancing Women's Excellence in Family Medicine (AWE_FM): A Leadership Program for Emerging Leaders

Audience

Current or emerging early to mid-career women leaders in family medicine from around the world. 

Program description

Advancing primary care and family medicine globally requires leadership and advocacy at many levels within a healthcare system. The Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto and its international collaborators have played an important role in advancing leadership curriculum at the undergraduate, postgraduate and faculty level.

This course will foster leadership development for women emerging into family medicine leadership roles globally as women increasingly represent the majority in family medicine, yet leadership development targeting specifically junior family physician women leaders is lacking. Course participants will develop critical skills to support their leadership journey as they advance the discipline of family medicine, while working together to address the challenges unique to emerging women leaders.

Certificate

Upon successful completion of the program, you will receive a certificate of completion. You are required to attend 5 out of 6 synchronous sessions and meet minimum participation requirements to receive a certificate. 

Registration and course fees

Our goal is for our fees to be fair, equitable, and accessible. To this end, program tuition is set on a sliding scale based on the income classification of your country as defined by the World Bank. To see how your country is classified, please see here:

• Participants from High-Income Countries: $1,000 CAD plus 13% HST
• Participants from Middle and Upper-Middle Income Countries: $500 CAD plus 13% HST  
• Participants from Lower-Income Countries: $250 CAD plus 13% HST 

Vision statement

Family physician women leaders strengthen healthcare systems and communities globally through effective collaborative leadership and advocacy. 

Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Reflect on the foundational concepts of physician leadership of self, others and systems. 
• Identify and leverage key enablers that elevate women leaders in primary care, discussed with a gender and culturally contextual lens. 
• Acquire skills to master challenges faced by mid-career women family physicians in leading oneself, others, and health systems.
• Build a community of global women leaders in family medicine by leveraging peer mentorship into a network of support, empowerment, advocacy, and advancement.

Program delivery

Taught by faculty leaders from the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) and international guest faculty, this course will run from October 23 - December 11, 2025.

Dates of virtual synchronous sessions: October 23, October 30, November 13, November 27, December 4, December 11

The course will be delivered over 6 weeks through asynchronous and synchronous sessions with a focus on collaborative learning. The program includes access to the course website, weekly readings, pre-recorded videos, and a weekly 90-minute session delivered live on Zoom on Thursdays at 8:00am EST. Participants will also be able to access virtual mentorship and networking opportunities with participants from around the world. Weekly synchronous sessions are recorded for future reference.

Course framework

6 sequential and inter-related sessions: 

1. Leading Self –Articulate your own leadership journey
2. Understanding others –Cross-cultural and gender perspectives in leadership development
3. Engaging with others –The power of networks and relationships, excellence in communication
4. Leading others –Managing conflict gracefully
5. Leading Change –Practical tools for effective change management 
6. Negotiations –How to achieve a win-win situation

Full program coming soon.

For questions, please contact dfcm.globalhealth@utoronto.ca