MD Program Foundations Curricular Modifications
March 20, 2020
Dear Foundations students,
I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe, and looking forward to resuming CPC2 and CNC next week.
As we look forward to virtual classes starting next week, we want to provide the following update regarding the different elements of the Foundations curriculum. As you can imagine, we have had to find creative ways to deliver our curriculum—through online materials, live broadcast, or additional self-study materials wherever possible.
For the rest of the academic year, all Foundations learning and assessment activities will be modified as follows:
LECTURES
All live lectures will be replaced with lecture recordings from last year, updated YouTube videos, or live Zoom webinars (with recordings made available after the session). You will have the ability to type in questions for the speakers. We will update MedSIS and Elentra to indicate when the session will be live via “Zoom” or previously recorded “REC”.
CBL
CBL groups will continue to meet, as scheduled, via videoconference. Groups can choose their preferred option for videoconference from the list attached. There may be amalgamation of groups depending on tutor availability. You will be required to submit your group and independent questions as usual for your tutor to review.
WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS
Year 1 – The Ultrasound Workshop is cancelled. Online resources are being developed and will be provided for you to learn this material independently. We will look into rescheduling this activity in year 2.
Year 2 – The Airway Workshop, Trauma Radiology Workshop, and Poverty and Health Workshop are cancelled—we will provide online resources for you to review independently. The Medical Psychiatry Workshop has been cancelled. The ECG Workshop is cancelled—we will provide online resources for you to review independently and a Q&A session via Zoom. The May 4 Leader: Physician Health, Personal Growth, Stress & Burnout session will be delivered live via Zoom. Dr. Tia Pham will deliver the session six times over the morning to six groups (30 min each) in order to preserve the educational value. You will be informed of your group assignment.
LEARNING SUPPORT FROM COURSE DIRECTOR
Effectively immediately, we will have weekly “Virtual Office Hours” via Zoom to answer course or content specific questions from the class as outlined below. Connection details will be posted in the Course homepage on Elentra, along with course director updates for each week on the Announcement page. We also encourage students to ask questions via the shared Q&A documents for each week.
Year 1 – Weekly virtual office hours with Dr. Ashna Bowry: Wednesdays between 9:00-9:30am (open to whole class) & 9:30am-noon (by appointment directly with Dr. Bowry only)
Year 2 – Weekly virtual office hours with Dr. James Owen: Tuesdays between 9:00-9:30am (open to whole class) & 9:30am-noon (by appointment directly with Dr. Owen only)
ANATOMY (YEAR 1 ONLY)
Each lab session will be replaced with a one-hour long virtual TA-led tutorial. You will be assigned to one of a few groups and the schedule will be updated on MedSIS next week. Dissection videos to supplement the eModules are now posted on Elentra. Assessments will be conducted on ExamSoft remotely. We will provide you with more information soon.
PORTFOLIO
All Portfolio small group sessions and progress review meetings will continue either by telephone or videoconferencing. You will be receiving the usual reminder email prior to your session. Please review it carefully for the session details, assignment requirements, and deadlines. As you know, all the information is also available on Elentra. Contact the Portfolio coordinator, Bektu, by email at portfolio.ume@utoronto.ca or phone 416-978-7327 if you need the contact information of anyone in your group. We feel strongly that during these uncertain times, now more than ever, Portfolio is an opportunity for us to maintain our social connections. In response to this new stressor, we will be modifying the upcoming session topics to include an opportunity to discuss the COViD pandemic and its impact on students and Scholars.
HSR
Year 1 – HSR lectures will be replaced with online resources.
Year 2 – You will no longer be required to prepare an oral presentation. The tutorials scheduled for April 22 and 29 are cancelled.
ICE: HEALTH IN COMMUNITY
Year 1 – The May 12 tutorial will be conducted, as scheduled, via videoconference. Closer to the tutorial date, we will send out emails to connect tutors with students to coordinate videoconferencing. We will send out modified tutorial materials at that same time as well.
Year 2 – The April 2 and May 21 tutorials will be conducted, as scheduled, via videoconference. Closer to the tutorial date, we will send out emails to connect tutors with students to coordinate videoconferencing. We will send out modified tutorial materials at that same time as well. The remaining four field experiences are cancelled. The MD Program has already informed the agencies, but it is important for you to reach out to them to continue or wrap up the work you have been doing with them via email.
ICE: EEE
All EEE placements have be cancelled for the remainder of the year. Year 2 students who have not completed the EEE requirements have already been contacted by the MD Program regarding next steps. All large group teaching sessions will be moved to an online format.
ICE: FMLE
FMLE is on hold until further notice. For those who have not completed their FMLE requirements, please do not attend any further clinics with your preceptor. We will reach out to you to discuss further in the next couple months. The MD Program has notified all preceptors.
ICE: MP GPS CARE (YEAR 1 ONLY)
GPS Care simulation is cancelled. Instead, we have developed an assignment to replace the Getting to Know Patients' System of Care Experience (GPS-Care Experience). This two-part written assignment aims to fulfill the objectives of the missed experience. Please note that you are required to complete the GPS-CARE assignment before noon, Monday April 13, 2020 for marking by Dr. Yvonne Kwok and Dr. Marcus Law. Please contact mpa.ume@utoronto.ca if you run into any difficulties.
ICE: CLINICAL SKILLS
All remaining clinical skills sessions are cancelled. Online resources to support your independent learning, including mandatory clinical reasoning assignments, will be added to Elentra. We are actively developing in-person learning and assessment activities (including OSCE) to ensure your clinical skills are at the expected level. These activities may take place in August. We will provide you with an update as soon as we can.
IPE
Year 1 – The March 23 “Operation IPE” session is cancelled.
Year 2 – The March 23 “Conflict in Interprofessional Life” session is cancelled.
ETHICS SEMINARS
Year 1 – The Truth Telling lecture & seminar scheduled for April 2 is cancelled. Self-study material will be provided. We strongly encourage you to answer the case questions before reviewing the Tutor Notes.
Year 2 – The HIV and Confidentiality seminar scheduled for April 27 is cancelled. Self-study material will be provided. We strongly encourage you to answer the case questions before reviewing the Tutor Notes.
MEDICAL IMAGING SEMINARS (YEAR 1 ONLY)
There will be no in-person component to the Medical Imaging sessions. In order to learn this material, we ask that you review the self-study material provided on Elentra. You will only be assessed on content that is presented in these slides.
RESILIENCE SEMINARS (YEAR 1 ONLY)
There will be no in-person component to the Resilience session. In order to learn this material, we ask that you review the self-study material provided on Elentra.
WEEKLY FEEDBACK QUIZZES
To help consolidate your learning and have ongoing feedback, we would highly encourage you to submit the Weekly Feedback Quiz before Monday 8am for Year 1, and Friday 8am for Year 2. This always has been important but is even more so, as a learning tool during this time of virtual curriculum delivery. If we notice that you have not been completing these quizzes or if your score is missing on ExamSoft, we will check up on you to see if you need extra support.
ASSESSMENTS
We will NOT be conducting any type of Foundations assessment in person for the remainder of the school year. ME and Anatomy assessments will be completed on ExamSoft at home. The April 3 ME for year 2 will be moved to the morning of April 6. A complete and updated list of assessments will be provided on the “Assessments” page on Elentra for CPC 2 and CNC by Monday March 23. The format of the MEs will continue to consist of MCQ questions, in the same format as previous courses. We are exploring an e-proctoring function to ExamSoft and will update you with the details very soon. We will ensure that your computer is set up properly ahead of the first ME, and will be very understanding if you encounter technical problems during an ME. Under these circumstances, adjustments to the assessment schedule may be required but you will be updated in advance.
PROGRESS TESTING
Progress Testing scheduled for May is cancelled.
MEET (Making Every Encounter Therapeutic) MP Program
The MEET MP experience for second year students will no longer go ahead as planned for this year. MEET MP teachers have been informed and all MEET MP patients encounters will be cancelled going forward. Should you have questions or queries about MEET MP, please contact mpa.ume@utoronto.ca.
ATTENDANCE
We expect all students to attend all live sessions, including CBL, Portfolio, and ICE: HC.
VIDEOCONFERENCING FOR SMALL GROUPS (CBL, PORTFOLIO, ICE: HC)
For St. George students, we have attached a list of options for you to choose from. Each group should select a student lead to contact the tutor at least a week before the session to pick the platform and test it out ahead of time. If you are having trouble identifying a platform, please contact your academy admin.
For MAM students, the academy will email you with Zoom connection information for your Faculty-led CBL, Portfolio, and ICE: HC sessions. There may be amalgamation of groups depending on tutors’ availability.
If your tutor is not able to make it to the session, please see if your tutor can reschedule, or contact your academy admin for help with merging with another group.
FOUNDATIONS FORUM
There will be a virtual Foundations Forum via Zoom on Tuesday March 24 from 11 to 11:30am, hosted by Drs. Houston, Law, Bowry, and Owen. We hope to answer any questions or concerns that you may have.
FINALLY …
Thank you to all of you for your understanding during this unusual and unprecedented time. As you know, many of us, including your tutors, are working hard to support our patients and each other. Some of your tutors may be required to cancel last minute due to unexpected clinical demands.
We are committed to deliver the Foundations curriculum in the best form we can, and communicate with you as much as possible remotely. Please reach out to us if you have any questions, suggestions, or if you just want to say hello! Thank you.
Regards,
Marcus Law
Director, Foundations
Marcus.law@utoronto.ca
James Owen
Course Director, CNC
James.owen@utoronto.ca
Ashna Bowry
Course Director, CPC2
Ashna.Bowry@unityhealth.to