Enhanced Skills Program: Clinical Environmental Health

This is a one-year program, funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, conducted by the Environmental Health Clinic at the university-affiliated Women’s College Hospital, under the auspices of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto.

Patients are referred by physicians from all over the province with complex, chronic, environmentally-linked health problems, and history of each patient’s environmental exposures over his or her lifespan is gathered, as well as his or her chronological and family health.

Practising Family Physicians may well have enhanced understanding of the complexity of chronic illnesses. The program fine tunes the participants’ diagnostic detective skills and points out practical, systematic ways of addressing multiple factors to improve patients’ health status and quality of life.

In addition to enhanced clinical skills, this program links with public health, occupational health, and primary prevention in the community, and offers academic education and research opportunities.

Program Director:
Dr. Riina Bray BASc, MSc, MD, FCFP, MHSc
Medical Director Environmental Health Clinic, Women's College Hospital

Length of Program: One Year (52 weeks) - Full Time

2024-2025 Call for Applications

Clinical Environmental Health applications are due by 5pm on Wednesday April 30, 2024.

Interested applicants should submit the following documents to Thanu Sabesan at dfcm.enhancedskillscat2@utoronto.ca:

Completed Application Form (available here)
Letter of Intent (addressed to the Program Director of the program of choice) addressing objectives and motivations for pursuing additional training
Current CV
Copy of your medical degree
Three (3) letters of reference, one of which must be from your residency Site Director. All letters should be sent directly to the email address above by referees.

After submission of the application, programs will engage in a file review and extend interview offers.

The successful applicant for the Clinical Environmental Health program will be notified by May 14, 2024.

If you have any questions about the program, please contact Program Director, Dr. Riina Bray (riina.bray@wchospital.ca).

Program and Application Eligibility

Applicants must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

Applicants must be enrolled as a PGY2 in a Canadian family medicine residency program at the time of application OR be a family physician currently practicing in Ontario.

N.B.: Those enrolled in a PGY3 Enhanced Skills Program at the time of application are NOT eligible to apply to another PGY3 Enhanced Skills position.

Curriculum Competencies

The Clinical Environmental Health Program adheres to CanMEDS-FM goals and objectives to achieve the following competencies:

Medical Expert
Communicator
Collaborator
Leader
Scholar
Health Advocate
Professional

For complete details, please read the goals and objectives.

Sample Rotation

Clinical: Supervisors in the Environmental Health Clinic, and teachers in family medicine or speciality community practices outside the hospital.
Population Health and Clinical Public Health: Rotations in Toronto Public Health, Public Health Ontario.
Research: Collaboration with researchers in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
Education: Frequent attendance at relevant rounds e.g. Toxicology (Poison Control Centre Rounds), Occupational Health (St. Michael’s Hospital, Dr. Brian Gibson), Public Health (Public Health Ontario Rounds), Environmental Health (EH Centre Rounds).
Health Promotion: Observation of the operations of a health promotor at South Riverdale Community Health Centre, and of the 10-partner and 5-affiliated Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment and Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care.

Rotation Goals and Objectives

Unique Program Requirements

Complete one or more research projects with the Program Directors and University of Toronto Researcher’s approval.
Make at least one presentation related to the Clinical Environmental Health Program, with the Program Director’s approval.