Teaching and Curriculum
Foundations Curriculum
The Foundations Curriculum contains 50 hours of psychiatry teaching in lectures and small group learning.
This curriculum has a special unit for clinical exposure of psychiatry across the life span including child, geriatric and complex care. For more information on the Foundations Curriculum please visit the U of T MD webpage.
Clerkship Curriculum
The Core Clerkship in Psychiatry (PSS310Y) is a comprehensive 6-week rotation with a mix of didactic teaching, seminars and clinical teaching. Seminars are also held at partner hospitals on a weekly basis. These involve real patient experiences, role-play and standardized patients.
Interprofessional learning opportunities are available and are part of the students’ clinical experience on the inpatient units, ACT teams, Consultation-Liaison Service, and ER psychiatry.
All students have two half-days of clinical time with a child psychiatrist, with the opportunity to do an extra half-day in their selective time. Some (but not all) students gain exposure to geriatric psychiatry via a 3 week inpatient placement . Students take call until 11pm in a 1 in 5 schedule.
Students at Mississauga Hospital and Credit Valley Hospital have an outpatient experience integrated during their clinical rotation. All students get two half-days to do a mini-selective in week 6 in areas they feel they need more exposure. In addition, all students get 10 hours of self-study time during their clinical placement. They also have virtual office hours with the Course Director (five hours spread over the first five weeks of their Block) where they can post questions and queries.
Clerkship students may refer to the Psychiatry PSS310Y Course shell on Elentra for detailed, up-to-date curriculum and contact information for their rotation.
Electives
We encourage all students interested in psychiatry as a career or for global professional development to explore our array of potential Elective options. Applicants may wish to contact prospective supervisors in advance, but all students must adhere to application regulations as laid out by the MD Program Electives officeFor guidance on psychiatry electives, please visit the Electives Catalogue.
Selectives
Year 4 students of the MD Program participate in a 14-week Transition to Residency (TTR) course. Selectives are offered with the goal of preparing them for residency.
Enrichment Initiatives
Our Department hosts a number of non-curricular enrichment programs to promote exposure and interest to the psychiatry specialty with the following initiatives:
PsycLE
(Open to: MD Program Year 1 students)
PsycLE (the Psychiatry Longitudinal Experience) aims to increase medical students’ knowledge in the area of psychiatry and allow them to become more comfortable interacting with patients with mental illness. It also provides an opportunity to get a sense of what it is like to specialize in the field of psychiatry in either a hospital or office setting. PsycLE offers two blocks of placements timed to integrate with Year 1 of the MD Program.
MEET
(Open to: MD Program Year 2 students)
MEET (Making Every Encounter Therapeutic) is a second-year elective experience in therapeutic communication that is situated within the Medical Psychiatry Alliance (MPA). The elective offers an opportunity for medical students to receive 1:1 coaching in communication skills that focuses on making connections: between patients and physicians; mental and physical health; care of self and others; competence and caring. For more information please contact mpa.ume@utoronto.ca
AMI
(Open to: MD Program Year 2 students)
The Advocacy Mentoring Initiative (AMI) provides a select group of second year medical students to become Mentors through The Peer Project to youth who are identified as living in “at-risk” communities.
Medical students will be partnered with youth residing in Toronto. They will learn more about child development, community health and principles related to Advocacy through regular seminars and other scholarly activity. Medical students are mentored and engage in group supervision with two residents, one in Psychiatry and one in Adolescent medicine.
Summer Institute
(Not offered in 2019)
This is a one-week program held at the end of the academic year for junior medical students from universities across Canada to expose them to potential role models and mentors in the field of psychiatry. It consists of morning interactive seminars and afternoon elective placements. A kind of “Psychiatry Summer Camp”, the week serves both an educational and social function and is meant to give those who may be uncertain about a life as a psychiatrist a chance to explore the field firsthand.
Department of Psychiatry Facebook Group
Join us on our Department of Psychiatry Facebook group.