UHN Residents have the opportunity to participate in medical student teaching with the
Wightman-Berris Academy. Please see below for full details.
Academy of Resident Teachers (ART) Program Primer
What is the ART Program?
The purpose of the ART Program is to adequately prepare residents to teach the Clinical Skills course in a way that is both effective and efficient. The ART Program was developed to create a curriculum to offer interested resident teachers training to improve their teaching skills. Residents have many competing demands and we tried to create it in a way that would be feasible for residents to do. We want to ensure residents have the skills necessary to teach the course so that they are confident and competent and able to adequately relate the information and skills to the medical students. It also formalized the process of being involved in clinical skills and provides support to residents in terms of their teaching, if desired.
Who are the residents participating in ART?
- Over 60 residents from across specialties are involved in this first year of the ART Program.
- Participation in this program is completely optional for residents. It is designed for those interested in teaching clinical skills and furthering their skills in teaching and medical education.
- All residents were approved by their Program Directors for participation and felt to be good teachers with no professionalism lapses or academic concerns.
What training are residents receiving as part of this program?
- All residents participated in a mandatory 2-hour “Faculty Development” session to introduce them to the Clinical Skills course and ICE Curriculum, prepare them for teaching Clinical skills, review common difficulties students may have and how to navigate them.
- Residents also have the option of participating in 2 additional sessions to help hone their skills in teaching clinical skills to medical students.
How much teaching will the residents be doing?
- Residents are being asked to teach 4 sessions over the course of the academic year. They selected the sessions that they were interested in teaching and fit into their training schedule.
- The ART Program is based on a model of co-teaching, where residents will be matched with 1-2 faculty co-tutors to teach alongside.
- We have advised the residents to reach out to their assigned co-tutor to discussed shared expectations
Examples of co-teaching:
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One teach, one observe: One teacher delivers instruction while the other observes student learning.
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One teach, one assist: One teacher takes the lead in providing instruction while the other moves around the classroom, assisting struggling students.
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Parallel teaching: The class is divided in two groups and the same material is presented simultaneously by both teachers.
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Station teaching: Both teachers are actively involved in instruction as students are divided into groups and rotate from one station to the next.
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Alternative teaching: One teacher takes a small group of students and provides them more intensive or specialized instruction that is different than what the large group receives from the other teacher.
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Team teaching: Both teachers teach the content at the same time in tandem or “tag team” fashion.
What we are asking of the faculty co-tutors:
- To co-teach alongside the resident
- Be available during the session to support the resident should they have any concerns about a student, the session’s content or teaching.
- Many of the resident tutors, although not all, have been involved in teaching in some regard in the past and are looking to improve their skills. You will not be asked to evaluate or give formal feedback to the resident, however informal feedback and advice would likely be much appreciated by the resident.
- If there are any concerns about the resident co-teacher, please contact your site’s Academy Director, or you can contact Gillian Spiegle directly.
How are residents evaluated?
- Residents will be getting evaluations from their students on at least 2 occasions
- Faculty co-tutors will not be asked to evaluate the residents formally
- This program is not a part of the resident’s training program, it is considered an “extra-curricular”, and as such they will not be formally evaluated. The student evaluations are for the resident’s benefit and to add to their teaching dossier.
If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please contact Dr. Gillian Spiegle, ART Program Lead,
gillian.spiegle@mail.utoronto.ca. This is the first year of the program, so we are very open to any feedback.
Portfolio Teaching
Portfolio is a highly valued program by students and faculty. It runs all four years of medical school. Students meet in small groups with a resident (Junior Academy Scholar) and a faculty member (Academy Scholar) over the course of the year to reflect on various topics and their progress in medical school as they develop their professional identities. The purpose of the meetings is for students to share and explore their insights and relevant clinical experiences, and to reflect on how these experiences are influencing their professional development by using the CanMEDS framework as a reference.
Students will meet on six occasions during the academic year in small groups of 6-8 with their Academy Scholars and Junior Scholars to reflect and discuss key subjects relevant to their experiences as medical students, linked to the educational content and activities of their other components and courses. The Academy Scholars and Junior Scholars will facilitate and guide these discussions. Scholars will also have the responsibility of assessing 4 - 5 reflections three times per year.
Residents, in good academic standing, can apply as a Junior Scholar for the Portfolio Sessions - PGY2 or above for all Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada programs and PGY1 for College of Family Physicians Canada/Family Medicine. Interested residents should contact the
Portfolio coordinator directly to express interest. Residents are required to get their Program Director’s approval to teach Portfolio. Also, it is recommended that residents be able to commit for two years since it is ideal that years 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 have the same Academy Scholars for consecutive years.
Portfolio recruits residents who are:
- not in any academic difficulty and can spare the time
- In their PGY2 year or above for Years 3 and 4 and PGY1 and above for Year 1 and 2 courses
- Thoughtful, reliable and dedicated, and who would be good at facilitating medical students' discussions and reflections
- Interested in medical education
