FAQ: Family Medicine Program

After matching to the Family Medicine Program at the University of Toronto, a Virtual Open House is held approximately 1–2 weeks after the match results to provide you with more information about each of the different hospital teaching sites. Each resident will then be asked to complete a rank list of their preferred hospital teaching site. The internal match does not guarantee that residents will be matched to their preferred hospital teaching site. All those matched to the Family Medicine Residency Program will equally benefit from the strong curriculum and academic program offered as part of the experience at the University of Toronto. 

It is difficult to predict which site will be more popular in the internal match as the preferences for each cohort really depends on the preferences of those residents that match to the stream each year. In the Barrie or Newmarket stream internal match, there is space for each applicant to add comments. This will allow each applicant to explain the reasoning behind their choice.

The U of T administrative staff welcomes any suggestions for program improvement and innovation. The Family Medicine Residents Association of Toronto (FRAT) is an organizational council that serves as a link between administrative staff, program directors, and residents. It is comprised of chief residents, PGY1 reps, and committee members from all sites and streams.  Residents also have the opportunity to participate in various committees including the governing committee (FRAT Presidents sit on the Residency Program Committee) and the Professional Association of Residents of Ontario’s (PARO) General Council. The administrative bodies, from a resident perspective, are consistently responsive to resident needs and advocacy.

Each hospital teaching site varies with respect to the amount of time allotted to electives.  The minimum would be two or three months over the two years. Many sites include selectives in the curriculum, allowing residents to select a clinical rotation from a focused list of options. There is a diverse range of electives given the tremendous opportunities for clinical work in various specialties at U of T.

Our program has a protected Academic Half Day (AHD) with weekly teaching seminars and workshops; the majority delivered locally at each respective hospital teaching site. Academic Half-Days are protected teaching time, during which you will be excused from clinical duties, regardless of your rotation. Rotation directors from other specialties are aware of this protected and prioritized time and should allow you to attend. The lectures focus on topics important to primary care and can vary in response to the patient population at each teaching site. In addition to these academic half days, family medicine residents from all teaching sites come together four times a year for a focused day of seminars and lectures at Central Core Days. Our program also brings residents together twice a year for a curriculum in Practice Management.

The University of Toronto offers many high-quality 3rd year Enhanced Skills Programs including; Women's Health, Emergency Medicine, Sport and Exercise Medicine, Low-Risk Obstetrics,  Care of the Elderly, Clinician Scholar Program: Research and Education Streams, Addiction Medicine, Palliative Care and others. We continue to  develop new programs such as our Global Health and Vulnerable Populations Enhanced Skills Program. For details see the Enhanced Skills Section on our website

No.  You do not need to be at a specific site in order to get into a competitive PGY3 - Enhanced Skills Program.

The program directors and chief residents at each site work hard to ensure that the Family Medicine residents are receiving the respect they deserve.  Overall, Family Medicine residents are treated very well on off-service rotations at U of T.

The call schedule adheres to guidelines set out in the PARO-CAHO Agreement and depends both on the hospital site and the specific rotation. Residents will do no more than 1 in 4 in-hospital calls or 1 in 3 home calls. Traditionally, rotations like internal medicine and general surgery have more rigorous call schedules, while other rotations involve less frequent call.