Course Descriptions
Within each of the three phases that span the program’s four years, students undertake a series of courses, four of which run longitudinally across the years to support, develop and enhance their understanding and application of content through their learning journey. For each course in a given year, all learning must be complete for students to progress to the next year level in that course.
Year 1
| Course | Description |
Principles of Medicine MED101
|
This course provides the foundational knowledge, resources and skills for involvement in culturally safe and inclusive clinical care across the lifespan within the Brampton / Peel communities and beyond. The course focuses on the foundational (biomedical, health system, social and clinical) sciences and addresses health determinants, socio-cultural awareness and critical systems through the human lifecycle. Learning will be primarily case-based and includes large/small group teaching as well as independent study. Contact Hours: 13 hours per week |
Person-centred Care MED110
|
In this course, you will learn and apply clinical skills through simulation and longitudinal experiential learning in clinical settings with supervisors from the local community. Using the principles of person-centredness, you will develop skills in history taking, physical exam and communication that are respectful, culturally appropriate and safe for diverse populations. Working collaboratively with other professionals, you will learn to deliver health care in interprofessional teams to improve the health of individuals, families and communities. Contact Hours: 7 hours per week in clinical and simulated settings |
Health Systems Science MED120 |
Health systems science is the study of how care is delivered, how health professionals work together to deliver care and how the health system can improve health and health equity. This course will explore the importance of patient, family, community and population contexts within simple and complex healthcare systems and apply a framework for systems thinking that complements biomedical and clinical sciences. Contact Hours: 2 hours per week |
Community & Global Health MED130
|
MED 130 is structured as a large group and experiential learning course. Through service- and community-focused learning with affiliated organizations, the course introduces concepts and skills, and builds capacity in cultural openness and anti-discrimination. In this introduction to community and global health, you will explore the ways in which your own assumptions and cultural positionality influence the roles you play in a variety of community and global health contexts. Contact Hours: 6 hours per month |
Indigenous Communities & Health MED140
|
This course provides foundational knowledge with respect to governance and healthcare within the context of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. Through small group and large group learning and self-reflection and study, learning will focus on the dual goals of learning about care, working with Indigenous communities, and dismantling colonialism by interrupting its impacts on health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples through trauma-informed practices and collaborative care.
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Personal and Professional Development MED150 |
The course will focus on your development as a scholarly and ethical professional, leader and life-long learner. Through activities and discussion, you will develop your professional identity from student to life-long, whole-person, Master Adaptive Learner with the personal and professional skills of a future physician - a person who has the values of working with high ethical standards and who upholds personal and team wellness while aligning with the values of TMU. Contact Hours: 3 hours per month |
Year 2
| Course | Description |
Principles of Medicine MED201
|
MED 201: Principles of Medicine advances learning of the foundational sciences (biomedical, clinical, health systems and social sciences) from MED 101 with additional integrated body systems and, in preparation for Clerkship, addresses more complex systems of care. This course is foundational to progress to the Phase 2 course Clerkship. Contact Hours: 13 hours per week Prerequisites: MED101 |
Person-centred Care MED210
|
In this course, you will continue to expand the clinical, patient and family assessment skills that you learned in MED 110. Through simulation and experiential learning, you will apply clinical skills in more complex circumstances and in population-specific situations. You will continue to work collaboratively in interprofessional teams in preparation for the Phase 2 course, Clerkship. Contact Hours: 7 hours per week in clinical and simulated settings Prerequisites: MED110 |
Health Systems Science MED220 |
In follow-up to MED120, you will continue the study of how care is delivered, how health professionals work together and how the health system can improve health and health equity. We will use more complex examples to explore the importance of patient, family, community and population contexts. Using the systems thinking framework, you will collaborate in small groups to identify a patient-safety or accessibility/health equity issue. Contact Hours: 2 hours per week Prerequisites: MED120 |
Community & Global Health MED230
|
MED230 expands on concepts and further develops skills introduced in MED 130. Community & Global Health is structured as a large group and experiential learning course. Through service- and community-focused learning in affiliated organizations, the course builds capacity in cultural openness and anti-discrimination. You will further learn about impacts of determinants of health, climate and ecological changes as well as human-made disasters and how they impact the health/wellness of individuals both locally and globally. Contact Hours: 6 hours per month Prerequisites: MED130 |
Indigenous Communities & Health MED240
|
In this course, you will learn anti-oppressive practices in medicine and engage in reflexive practices to understand the oppressive historical and contemporary practices in medicine that make accessing healthcare unsafe for Indigenous Peoples.You will learn to implement anti oppressive practices with the intention of becoming anti-oppressive physicians. Contact Hours: 3 hours per month Prerequisites: MED140 |
Personal and Professional Development MED250 |
Following MED 150, you will continue shaping your professional identity through developing and enhancing your knowledge and skills in leadership and scholarship. As you gain experience in the clinical setting and the demands of a career in medicine, you will learn strategies to maintain wellness, encourage self improvement, while maintaining high ethical standards and upholding personal and team wellness while aligning with the values of TMU. Contact Hours: 3 hours per month Prerequisites: MED150 |
Year 3
| Course | Description |
Clerkship MED360
|
Clerkship is the key experiential clinical learning event of the UGME Curriculum. You will be immersed in a longitudinal clinical experience within a primary care group practice in Brampton/Peel, supplemented with in-hospital and community experiences of specialty- delivered care. At defined intervals, you will engage in consolidated learning weeks including complex clinical scenarios in simulated settings, performance assessments of skills and entrustable professional activities as well as continuation of longitudinal courses. Contact Hours: 24-28 experiential hours per week Prerequisites: Successful Phase 1 completion |
Health Systems Science MED320 |
In this progression from MED 220, we continue to investigate, through the use of more complex cases and from experiential learning in clerkship, how health professionals work together to deliver care and how the health system can improve health and health equity. Contact Hours: Schedule adapted to the requirements of Clerkship hours, equivalent to 2 hours per week Prerequisites: MED220 |
Community & Global Health MED330
|
MED 330 further expands on concepts and skills developed in MED 130 and MED 230. The course is structured as a large group and experiential learning course. As you gain clinical experience through Clerkship, you will continue to build capacity in cultural openness and anti-discrimination and have opportunities to discuss local and global health-related issues. Contact Hours: Schedule adapted to the requirements of Clerkship hours, equivalent to 3 hours per month Prerequisites: MED230 |
Indigenous Communities & Health MED340
|
This course builds on existing knowledge about the impacts of colonialism on Indigenous Peoples’ health and will provide you with additional knowledge with respect to the complexity of issues impacting Indigenous communities and health. It will continue to provide you with opportunities to reflect upon your role as a care provider to establish trauma-informed practices. As well, you will grow to understand and appreciate the diversity of Indigenous health knowledge and how you can create space for these knowledge systems in medicine. Contact Hours: Schedule adapted to the requirements of Clerkship hours, equivalent to 3 hours per month Prerequisites: MED240 |
Personal and Professional Development MED350 |
The professional theme for MED 350 is reciprocity. The focus will be on explorations of ways to build and maintain mutually beneficial and supportive professional relationships and strong interdependent interprofessional teams. You will continue to develop skills as a leader and a scholar. You will continue to develop skills in critical appraisal, applying those skills to cases encountered in Clerkship. Contact Hours: Schedule adapted to the requirements of Clerkship hours, equivalent to 3 hours per month Prerequisites: MED250 |
Year 4
| Course | Description |
Transition to Residency MED460
|
Transition is the UGME capstone course that spans the final year of the program. This course supports, with sessions from other longitudinal four-year courses, each student undertaking self-directed learning in clinical specialties, foundational sciences and community service. In preparation for graduation, additional sessions will allow completion of final assessments for competence in key UGME Enabling Competencies and the program’s Entrustable Professional Competencies. Sessions with mentors will support each graduate in their application to postgraduate studies. Contact Hours: Schedules co-created with students based on self-directed learning goals Prerequisites: Successful Phase 2 completion |
Health Systems Science MED420 |
In this progression from MED 320, we continue to investigate, through the use of more complex cases, how health professionals work together to deliver care and how the health system can improve health and health equity. We will explore the importance of patient, family, community and population contexts in a variety of simple and complex healthcare systems and apply a framework for systems thinking that complements biomedical and clinical sciences. Contact Hours: Schedule adapted to the requirements of Transition to Residency hours, equivalent to 2 hours per week Prerequisites: MED320 |
Community & Global Health MED430
|
MED 430 is structured as a small group and experiential learning course. This final course in the series is an opportunity for you to consolidate your community and global health skills and knowledge. Contact Hours: Schedule adapted to the requirements of Transition to Residency hours, equivalent to 3 hours per month Prerequisites: MED330 |
Indigenous Communities & Health MED340
|
This course builds on existing knowledge about the impacts of colonialism on Indigenous Peoples’ health and will provide you with opportunities to reflect upon your role as a care provider and in relationship building. As well, you will have opportunities to put into practice the concept of relationality, while being mindful of managing clinical expectations placed upon you as a physician. Contact Hours: Schedule adapted to the requirements of Transition to Residency hours, equivalent to 3 hours per month Prerequisites: MED340 |
Personal and Professional Development MED450 |
Situated after the completion of Clerkship, MED 450 presents an opportunity to review the multiple sources of the feedback you received during Clerkship in light of the conceptions of professional identity, leadership, ethics and wellness presented in all iterations of Professional and Personal Development. Contact Hours: Schedule adapted to the requirements of Transition to Residency hours, equivalent to 3 hours per month Prerequisites: MED350 |
Appropriateness of Structure and Requirements to Meet Objectives and Outcomes
The program has been strategically created through a process of constructive alignment. Each element of the program was selected and structured to be complementary components to support the 17 program objectives as well as the students’ attainment of intended learning outcomes. Content has been selected to reflect the core values and goals of TMU, the School of Medicine and the program itself.
The program objectives can be grouped into five basic clusters:
- an emphasis on EDIA and Reconciliation, social justice and addressing the social determinants of health;
- a focus on primary care, Family Medicine and the unique needs of aging;
- ensuring professionalism and a community-centred stress on interprofessional collaboration;
- the application of technology to improve the quality of care; and
- the longitudinal integration of health systems science with the basic and clinical science.
At the outset of the program, program learning outcomes are featured and discussed at the introductory level. In Years 2 and 3, a greater focus is placed on reinforcement of those outcomes. Proficiency is not expected until the completion of clinical electives undertaken in Year 4’s Transition to Residency course. For example, expectations are that MED 101 and 201 (Practice of Medicine l and Practice of Medicine ll) and MED 110 and 210 (Person-centred Care l and Person-centred Care ll) are foundational courses undertaken in preparation for Clerkship, where reinforcement of learning outcomes occurs. It will not be until MED 460 (Transition to Residency) that proficiency is expected in all learning outcomes.
Complementary to the horizontal spiral, the intentional vertical spiral in the curriculum means that concepts introduced in one course might actually be reinforced in another course completed in the same year. Hence, learning outcome CL3, for example, seems to be first introduced in MED 220 at the level of Reinforcement. In reality, new content in MED 220 is purposefully integrated with material presented in MED 201 in ways that reinforce elements of that complex outcome.
The program’s curriculum is based on the recognition that students are undertaking a competency-based learning process which will see them achieve graduating levels of competency in different stages. By April of the final year, all students will need to have documented evidence of reaching all program goals. Those who have not will be required to undertake mandated learning for their last block of studies, return for an additional year, or elect to graduate in October convocation after a summer remedial term. The learning management software system (LMS) will track the completion of these learning outcomes for each student to facilitate easy access and review by learners, coaches, course leaders and the Competence Committee.
At their entrance into the program, students will be provided with the learning outcomes, the Entrustable Professional Activities, a complete list of milestones and an explanation of the LMS and process of progression to support their understanding of how they will achieve passing progress on their journey to graduation-level competence.