Temerty Faculty of Medicine
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Residency Program Overview

The program is fully accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). The successful completion of the program along with success on the CFPC examination leads to certification in the specialty of Family Medicine.

The Family Medicine residency program at the University of Toronto is composed of five streams:

  1. Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
  2. Barrie or Newmarket
  3. Midland or Orillia 
  4. Integrated Communities
  5. Integrated Communities - Uxbridge Markham

Family Medicine is the central component of learning. At present, all residents spend at least eight months of the 24-month program in Family Medicine. Residents see themselves as family doctors from the first day in the program. Half-days back to Family Medicine on all rotations promote continuity of care with patients. Seven of the teaching units operate in the horizontal model in which Family Medicine time is spread evenly over the two-year program, resulting in residents attending to their patients three days per week throughout the program.

Our residents also have the opportunity to tailor their program through numerous selective and elective choices.

Curriculum Overview

Curriculum Overview:

  • 24-month comprehensive educational program with a competency-based curriculum building on the CanMEDS-FM framework and roles
  • A minimum of four months of Family Medicine training in both first and second year divided into a Block or Horizontal curriculum
    • Block Curriculum includes 4 months of Family Medicine experience in 1-month blocks (combined as determined by each site), with one half-day of FM per week over the two-year period to provide continuity of patient care.
    • Horizontal Curriculum offers equivalent exposure longitudinally as three half-days per week over the two-year period    
    • Clinical Specialty Rotations may vary by site based on excellence of educational experience and  resources
  • Teaching Practices introduce residents to two months of community based Family Medicine experience in their second year of residency as part of their core Family Medicine training
  • Protected Academic Half Days (AHD) with weekly teaching seminars/workshops; the majority delivered locally at the site. There is a central mandatory topic list which is supplemented  by site-specific needs as determined by site leadership involving site program directors/ delegates and chief residents
  • Quarterly Core Days with all Family Medicine residents present topics of particular importance in Family Medicine
  • Quality Improvement Curriculum and Project Development
  • Research/Academic Project required    

Program Highlights

Flexibility

  • Five streams with diverse sites within each stream
  • Horizontal or Block rotation schedule
  • Hospital-based Family Medicine teaching unit (FMTU) or preceptor-based teaching models
  • Tertiary centres or community hospitals
  • Multiple opportunities for electives (independently arranged based on interest) or selectives (resident selects from focused list of options

Resident responsiveness

  • Family Medicine Residents Association of Toronto (FRAT)
    • The resident-led council comprised of chief residents and PGY1 reps from each site and stream as well as committee reps & social reps
  • Committee memberships (both local, provincial and national)
  • Local delivery of curriculum (responsive to site directors/program assistants and site chief residents)
  • Professional Association of Residents of Ontario General Council representation relative to program size

Well-resourced

  • Diverse patient population (broad range of clinical, socioeconomic, cultural issues)
  • Unparalleled learning opportunities
  • Excellent teacher to learner rations (does not exceed 1:4 in Family Medicine)

Strong Academic Profile

  • Fully accredited by the CFPC 2020
  • High pass rates for both Canadian Medical Graduates (CMG) and International Medical Graduates (IMG) residents on the national certification examination
  • Scores consistently above the mean on all components of national exam
  • Competency-based Curriculum
  • Bi-annual Family Medicine Medical Expert Assessment of Progress (FM-MAP) for residents to self-monitor progress on essential FM competencies
  • Opportunity and support for Research/Academic Projects
  • Quality Improvement Curriculum and project support
  • Protected weekly academic time at sites (Academic Half Days)
  • Protected Quarterly Core Days with central core teaching with residents together from all sites

Additional Program Highlights:

Breadth and quality of PGY-3 Enhanced Skills Opportunities

Category 1

  • Addiction Medicine
  • Anesthesia
  • Care of the Elderly
  • Clinician Scholar
  • Academic Palliative Care (12 Month Program)
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Sport and Exercise Medicine

Category 2

  • Breast Diseases
  • Clinical Environmental Health
  • Education Scholar
  • Hospital Medicine
  • Global Health and Vulnerable Populations
  • Low-Risk Obstetrics
  • Women's Health
  • HIV Care
  • 2SLGBTQ Health
  • Intellectual and Development Disabilities
  • Adolescent Medicine
  • Indigenous Health