DFCM holds “virtual” graduation for the Class of 2020

On June 10, 2020, the University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) hosted a live virtual graduation ceremony for graduating residents. Due to COVID-19, all in-person events were cancelled or postponed, so a traditional graduation ceremony could not be held this year. However, we still wanted to mark this important milestone, and ensure the hard work and accomplishments of our graduating residents as well as their family and friends who have supported them along the way, are recognized.

“Although other events had to be cancelled, I’m glad we could still celebrate and have our final goodbye to the residency program that we’ve spent the past two years in, and I think a lot of the residents appreciated having a graduation, acknowledging the many leaders that we have in the programs, and celebrating all who received awards,” said Dr. Ilan Fellus, outgoing co-president of the Family Resident Association of Toronto (FRAT).

Although this year’s ceremony did not include the usual in-person festivities, the virtual ceremony incorporated a few familiar aspects of a traditional ceremony with music, photos of all the graduating residents, and graduation speakers.

“A lot of residents might have initially felt that this wasn’t an ideal way to graduate because the platform was so different, but I felt that the response to the virtual graduation was overwhelmingly positive,” says Dr. Vivian Tam, outgoing co-president of FRAT. “I think that attitude really captures that sense of making the best of the situation that we’re in and the optimism that many of us have.”

It has been a turbulent spring season as the global pandemic has upended many aspects of normal life, but our residents have taken it in stride and have stepped up for their patients and communities. Many residents were redeployed to provide care in other areas of the hospital or volunteered their time at COVID assessment centres, providing relief to overburdened colleagues.

“The last four months have been challenging for our residents, and yet, through all of the adversity and disruption, they demonstrated commitment to their learning and to providing compassionate patient care,” says Dr. Stu Murdoch, the Post-Graduate Program Director at DFCM.

Dr. Tam was also impressed by how residents pulled together during this uncertain time: “On the whole, I found that residents really wanted to pitch in to help their communities or their home hospitals. No one has navigated residency or entered clinical practice during a global pandemic, but I do think it’s a really special time to be a family medicine resident and soon-to-be family medicine staff, because we are so highly adaptable and clinically versatile. It speaks volumes as to how broad and valuable our skillset is.”

Dr. Fellus echoed these sentiments and added, “The way residents have embraced these challenges that came with the pandemic has really exemplified their resilience throughout this whole process. Although this is a different experience for both us and our patients, there will be a lot of lessons learned that will make us better clinicians.”

As our graduating residents enter a new chapter in their professional careers, there will be many new experiences, challenges, and lessons learned along the way. We wish them the best of luck, and just as Dr. Murdoch has said in his speech, “whether you are moving on to further training, comprehensive care or hospital care, remember, we are cheering for you. You are the future of primary care.”

It's been a wonderful two years @UofTFamilyMed and I'm so proud to be graduating alongside these amazing co-residents. Can't wait to see how your careers unfold! #2020dfcmgrad pic.twitter.com/BioQdVyUF4

— Bernard Ho (@bernarddho) June 11, 2020

Residency graduation today over Zoom was a wonderful experience. Thanks @UofTFamilyMed! I am looking forward to continuing my training in Care of the Elderly at @Baycrest.

— Elliot Lass (@ELassMD) June 10, 2020

Some of our amazing @UofTFamilyMed graduates from @NYGH_News . Already have demonstrated such skill and compassion and have an amazing careers ahead of them. pic.twitter.com/yQT8N00kte

— Joshua Tepper (@DrJoshuaTepper) June 11, 2020

Today, we celebrated the graduation of the Family Medicine residents at @SinaiHealth and across @UofTFamilyMed. I was honoured to be part the celebration and am so proud of the whole lot of them including @bernarddho, @ELassMD, @Jennifer_ypeng and all the others not on Twitter ;)

— Natalie Morson (@NatMorson) June 11, 2020