Post MD Annual Report 2019-2020

Salvatore Spadafora

Welcome – Salvatore Spadafora, Vice Dean Post MD 2015-2020

This academic year has been one of unprecedented change that has been equally challenging and rewarding. The unprecedented challenge for the delivery and reinvention of medical education as a result of COVID-19 saw Post MD Education come together as a community to respond to the needs, safety and wellness of our trainees and faculty while also fostering innovative new ways of learning.

PostMD Organization
Patricia Houston

Welcome – Patricia Houston, Vice Dean Medical Education

Welcome to the 2019-2020 annual report for Post MD education. This report highlights some of the achievements across PGME and CPD. Much of the year was impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic and the ways in which processes, systems and the delivery of education and care needed to pivot to meet the needs of our learners, our patients and their families.

Redeployment: Answering the Call in Times of Exceptional Need

Partnerships

COVID-19 presented many challenges to the clinical educational environment and beyond. PGME's acute response involved a three-phase redeployment plan guided by Principles for Redeployment and Procedural Memo developed in collaboration with hospital partners. PGME also leveraged its partnerships with provincial regulators and the Ontario Hospital Association to ensure that residents and fellows could safely undertake redeployment and/or continue into practice even though certification examinations were deferred.

Adapting to the new normal – The Impact of COVID-19 on Post MD Education

COVID Shifts

The global pandemic required Post MD Education to quickly develop and deliver medical education in a new way. PGME worked closely with hospital sites and external partners to redeploy PG learners and quickly transitioned all learner-facing activities on-line. CPD rapidly developed capacity and expertise in the delivery of digital conferences. This move opened-up opportunities for new program and conference formats and collaboration with national specialty societies and associations.

Promoting Wellness Across the Continuum of Medical Education

Wellness

Wellness webinars and online workshops delivered essential education to the U of T health care community. CPD offered two series covering topics including Mental Health & Resilience and Self-Care and Diversity. PGME’s wellness office developed a workshop and several videos to support wellness for trainees.

Scholarship and Research across Post MD

Scholarship

Post MD was actively engaged in scholarship activities for the 2019-2020 academic year. Representatives participated several medical education conferences including AMEE, ICRE, CCME and SACME. Research topics explored ideas of how to lead and sustain successful change and educational technology.

Financial gift establishes priority fund to support CPD and PGME activities

Financial Support

The University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine has received a $10-million gift from the Temerty Foundation to support Toronto’s hospital and health-science network as it responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. Received in early April, the gift was committed to create the Dean’s COVID-19 Priority Fund. This priority fund directly supports a number of CPD and PGME activities.

Message from the Associate Dean, CPD

CPD

Suzan Schneeweiss

The COVID-19 pandemic has been transformational for CPD. Over the past year, we have successfully pivoted to a new way of learning and conveyed to learners across the continuum of medical education the value of lifelong learning.

CPD Programs Offer Pathway For New Credential

Leadership

The Certified Professional in CPD (Healthcare) credential is a new formal designation for those engaged professionally in the discipline of CPD. It recognizes the achievement of CPD leaders, program developers, researchers and administrators, whether physicians or non-physicians and will launch in early 2021.

Teaching and Learning in the Pandemic- Past, Present and Future

Innovation

With grant funding from the Coalition for Physician Learning and Practice Improvement, a 7-video series on Synchronous (Live Online) Teaching and Learning in Healthcare which covers online learning, effective teaching principles, co-facilitation, and interactivity in Zoom has been created. The tips highlighted through the series cover what you need to know before teaching online.

Enabling Scientific Planning Committees in the transition to virtual learning

Community

CPD has significantly evolved its operations to support the transition of primarily on-site CPD to virtual learning, increasing access to education and accreditation consultation services. Since March, the CPD Accreditation Team has been providing as many as half-dozen consults each day to Scientific Planning Committees (SPC).

Message from the Associate Dean, PGME

PGME

Glen Bandiera

PGME has had a unique role in the pandemic. As both learners and health care providers, our residents and fellows stepped up to provide care in unorthodox models and in expanded roles.

Adjusting to New Processes

Community

COVID-19 required Canadian medical schools to quickly adapt to the repercussions for both medical students and residents seeking entry and subspecialty residency positions. New virtual processes were introduced for CaRMS to help residency programs adapt to a very different process of selecting candidates for their programs.

Postgraduate Medicine Leadership Certificate Program: Building on Success

Leadership

The Postgraduate Medicine Leadership Certificate Program (PGLC) is a program that is unique to Canada designed to foster medical leadership. Founded on the understanding that all physicians are leaders and play an important leadership role in health care, the PGLC is a centralized offering from PGME that fills a gap for trainees seeking to enhance their leadership capabilities through innovative learning and development of a relevant action learning project.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Pivoting to a new normal for COVID-19 safety

Innovation

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the PGME team to reconsider the training needs of current PGME trainees. In March and April, COVID-19 resources such as establishment of goals of care and management of the critically ill patient with COVID-19 were curated and posted on the PGME website; many of the resources were adapted specifically to the University of Toronto context.