Teaching Residents to Teach Program (TRT)

The Teaching Residents to Teach Program (TRT) was established by the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto in 2002. There have been over 800 graduates of the program since its inception.

This program helps PGY1 and PGY2 residents acquire the skills and confidence needed for office-based teaching, clinical skills teaching and seminar teaching. They will practice teaching medical students under faculty supervision in a co-teaching role. Residents will also learn how to work with small groups, provide feedback and be effective mentors and role models. Residents will also practice teaching medical students under faculty supervision in a co-teaching role.

Goals of the Program

• To identify residents who wish to pursue a career in academic family medicine
• To provide residents with teaching skills appropriate for supervision of medical students in a variety of settings
• To increase student exposure to family medicine residents
• To improve the faculty development skills of current teachers

Teaching Opportunities

Residents are strongly encouraged to engage in clerk teaching throughout their residency. Here are some exciting teaching opportunities that are available to our residents:

Pre-Clerkship & Foundations Teaching

• ICE: Clinical Skills
• Portfolio: Junior Academy Scholar
• IgFM Clinical Skills Conference and Mentorship
• Family Medicine Observership Week
• Family Medicine Longitudinal Experience (FMLE)

Clerkship Teaching

• Clinical Teaching
• Hospital-based Seminars
• DFCM-based Seminars
• Family Violence Seminars

Evaluation

 A TRT course completion certificate will be provided to those who fulfill the course requirements:

• Attend and actively participate in all three modules.
• Active participation in the teaching component in PGY1 and PGY2.
• Completion of a written reflective exercise in PGY2.

Additionally, residents must be in good academic standing throughout the year. If the resident is faced with academic difficulty, a meeting with the faculty may be requested and the participant may be asked to withdraw from the program.

The Teaching Residents to Teach Program provides an excellent platform for encouraging and nurturing our residents to aspire to higher medical education goals.

A large number of our program graduates are actively involved in academic careers supporting learners at the pre-clerkship (foundations), clerkship and residency program levels. Some of the graduates have established themselves as academic leaders in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, undertaking roles in the undergraduate and postgraduate programs as site directors and as a program director for the academic fellowship and graduate studies programs. 

Our outstanding graduates have also won prestigious teaching and leadership awards from the Department of Family and Community Medicine, as well as the College of Family Physicians of Canada. For more information about this program, please write to: familymed.undergrad@utoronto.ca