Enhanced Skills Program: Women's Health

The Women's Health Enhanced Skills Program is a 1 year enhanced skills program designed to:

  • Develop clinical expertise in women's health
  • Advance knowledge and skills that enable graduates to perform equitable health research/ scholarship
  • Foster leadership and advocacy in women's health
  • Produce exemplary teachers and role models in women's health

This clinical program is based out of Women's College Hospital and encourages trainees to examine women's health through multiple lenses including biological, socio-political and historical, economic, culture/race/ethnicity and other social determinants of health.

Program Director:
Dr. Kymm Feldman MD CCFP
Women's College Hospital
76 Grenville Street
Toronto, ON
M5S 1B2
(416) 323-6400

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

This program may be combined with the Low Risk Obstetrical Program. Applications must be submitted separately to both programs.

Program and Application Eligibility

Applicant must be a Canadian citizen. Applicant must be currently enrolled as a PGY2 in a Canadian family medicine residency at the time of application or be a Canadian family physician in clinical practice with Ministry of Health re-entry funding. 

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.

For funding eligibility, please see the main Enhanced Skills Program Admissions page.

International Sponsored Visa Trainees: This program accepts sponsored trainee applicants* from countries with a training agreement with the University of Toronto Post MD Education office. The University currently has trainint agreements in place with: Bahrain, Dominica, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Sponsored Visa Trainees from these countries must apply directly through the Post MD Education Office.

Our program is unable to consider applicants from countries where a training agreement is not currently in place.

*Selection determined by application program review and program capacity

Curriculum Competencies

The Women's Health Residency 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 goals and objectives.

See program curriculum map.

Sample Rotation

During the 2016/17 iteration of the program, six mandatory rotations were introduced including:

  • Family Medicine – longitudinal, one half-day per week
  • Reproductive Health – longitudinal, one half-day per week
  • Advocacy – longitudinal, 6 half-days total
  • Gynecology – block – four weeks
  • Mental Health – block, four weeks
  • Endocrinology – block four weeks

In addition, PGY3s are required to do three or four selective rotations, including:

  • Breast – 2 weeks
  • Osteoporosis – 2 weeks
  • Menopause – 2 weeks
  • Sexual Health – 2 weeks

For Selective rotation goals and objectives, please click here.

Remaining elective rotations may include a wide variety of options, some examples include:

  • Breast feeding
  • Cardiovascular health in women
  • Dermatology in women
  • Medical diseases in pregnancy
  • Health promotion in areas of violence against women
  • Infertility & reproductive education
  • Health and well-being for immigrant and refugee women

For Elective rotation goals and objectives, please click here.

Unique Program Requirements

Women's health scholars will be expected to undertake two graduate level courses in women's health (for credit or audit), will complete an academic project and will have teaching and program development responsibilities as part of the completion of their program.

Please refer to the Enhanced Skills Admissions page for more details on the application timeline and requirements.