FMEC MD Memo from Schulich Medicine at Western University: January 2015

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1 FMEC MD Memo from Schulich Medicine at Western University: January 2015 The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University offers a fouryear Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) program, delivered at two regional centres (London and Windsor) and across Southwestern Ontario through our Distributed Education Network. We are proud to share the role the Future of Medical Education in Canada (FMEC) MD report has had in directing our School during the past five years. Recommendation I: Address Individual and Community Needs Social accountability is a core value in Schulich Medicine & Dentistry s vision. Located in a diverse region of Canada that is experiencing ongoing economic challenges post 2008, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry has a rich tradition of supporting student and resident learning in regional and global locales with basic scientists, physicians and other health care professionals as educators. Our School is deeply committed to the community of Southwestern Ontario. With London as the regional tertiary referral centre for patient care and our long tradition of supporting education to advance care and knowledge, we support the regional economy, health knowledge creation and system transformation, as well as develop the future generations of community and tertiary health care providers. In their first year, students explore patient care delivered in rural communities. In pre-clerkship courses, the role of acute and chronic patient care, delivered with other health professionals, is integrated in all settings. Summer clinical and research elective opportunities in our Distributed Education Network support UME students embracing care in rural and diverse areas. Schulich Medicine & Dentistry proudly mentors and hosts our partners global health electives for all years of learning. This role is in keeping with the School s values and strategic plan. The School also supports Western s strategic plan objectives of learning with safety through international partnerships., Global health education is integrated throughout all courses of the curriculum. Clerkship offers rotations in rural and regional sites for core experiences in Family Medicine and other specialties. Our students are also strong advocates of delivering service and philanthropic initiatives aimed at improving the health of disadvantaged populations in our region and across the globe. Our curriculum is rooted in the principles of patient- and family-centered care. Schulich Medicine & Dentistry is leading the implementation of a new strategic plan for its Distributed Education Network. This plan is being developed with

2 input from regional health care and community partners, along with a Southwestern Ontario partnership of health care facilities, community networks, educational institutes - including three colleges and three universities in the South Western Academic Health Sciences Network (SWAHN) - to advance a regional education and patient care model of collaboration and quality. Recommendation II: Enhance Admissions Processes: Our School is proud of the diversity reflected through our UME classes, the Postgraduate Education (PGE) program and our faculty and staff. The School s Admissions Office works with our learner pipeline programs in rural regional communities and Indigenous nations to remove any obstacles impeding enrolment, and supports a UME class composition that reflects the social fabric of the region. Specific admissions positions are allocated for students who have completed their secondary school education in Southwestern Ontario, or who are selfidentified as indigenous persons. Our School and University have extensive resources to support students enrolled with financial need for their medical education. More than 40 per cent of our students remain as residents in our system, and 20 per cent of our graduating students enter practice in Southwestern Ontario. Our Admissions Office is also an active contributor to the growing literature of academic scholarship in admissions medical education. Recommendation III: Build on the Scientific Basis of Medicine Directed by Schulich Medicine & Dentistry s strategic plan, we offer the integration of basic and clinical scientists as educators and leaders across the curriculum. Content is integrated within and between modules or courses in all foundational and clinical sciences. The School s strategic plan has cultivated leadership in developing and applying new knowledge in foundational and clinical sciences, as well as medical education during the past five years. Students have opportunities to work with faculty researchers in summer and longitudinally integrated projects in the main centres and the Distributed Education Network. Our School, supported by a white paper on student research in UME, has moved to support and celebrate the growing number of student research and scholarship publications/presentations shared in peer-reviewed publications/meetings nationally and internationally.

3 Graduates acquire and refine research competence from courses throughout the curriculum to advance future models of patient-care across Canada. Recommendation IV: Promote Prevention and Public Health Schulich Medicine & Dentistry has created a vibrant new learning model supporting leadership in public health in the region and across Canada with the launch of the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health (MPH) in The MPH curriculum directs student learning in modules that develop future care using the AFMC primer objectives of population health, while incorporating the determinants of health in care and research. Recommendation V: Address the Hidden Curriculum Students are supported through social and curricular mentorship programs led by faculty in small groups that address the challenges of the hidden curriculum head on. The UME Program has cultivated a culture where all disciplines of patient care are valued by embracing reflection as an educational strategy. Our student health and career support office - Learner Equity & Wellness is cited as a strong pillar for all our UME learners regardless of their location. The growing numbers of Schulich Medicine graduates entering general disciplines speaks to our success in this goal. Recommendation VI: Diversify Learning Contexts Our School has a national reputation in distributed learning throughout two decades. The core curriculum is delivered as a single class in a distributed fashion between two regional centres in pre-clerkship, and across our Distributed Education Network in all clinical learning in Years 3 and 4. In clinical education, students are introduced to patient care in diverse regional centres from orientation week, through first year rural immersion week with physicians and health care professionals, into summer non-credit electives in rural, community, and global locations. Clerkship is delivered in rural and regional sites for a minimum of one, and up to four core rotations. The School and University support students who identify global health as a career goal. Our graduates match as valued residents in regional programs leading to supporting underserviced patients across Canada.

4 Recommendation VII: Value Generalism Anchoring generalism in the UME vision statement and drawing from the strength of the Department of Family Medicine as a national founder in primary care, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry s commitment to the goal of generalism is evident in our many generalist educators, mentors and leaders. The curriculum has a deep commitment to nurturing all aspects of generalism in delivering patient-care and scholarship. There is no better demonstration of this than the consistent placement of more than 40 per cent of our graduating classes into Family Medicine. Additionally 70 per cent of our Class of 2014 matched into general entry residency programs across Canada. Recommendation VIII: Advance Inter- and Intra-Professional Practice Schulich Medicine & Dentistry values other health care professionals as educators in all areas of education. In first-year, students are involved in integrated learning with all health professionals. Clinical exposure in secondyear, and all rotations in Clerkship, involve working along side and learning with all members of the health care team. Our students are supported to achieve competency in communications within and between health care teams as an objective throughout the curriculum. Designating a faculty Interprofessional Education (IP) lead and working with Western medical faculty, and Windsor University health sciences faculty, allows the School to deliver graduates who understand improving quality and safety through team-based patient- and familycentred care. Recommendation IX: Adopt a Competency-Based and Flexible Approach Our program s curricular competencies are measured throughout all years of studies and derived from the CanMEDS framework. Schulich Medicine & Dentistry is moving with its partners nationally, in embracing a competencybased outcome process for UME and PGE. The School provides mentors and learner support to bolster our students achieving competency by graduation in all our curricular objectives. Recommendation X: Foster Medical Leadership Developing tomorrow s leaders is a key goal for Western University. Our UME program has implemented a first-year course on the foundational skills of leadership. Students are supported in personal leadership development through access to School programs, mentored roles in student government, participation in School committees, processes of curricular development and governance, to name a few. Our graduates embrace this goal in their careers and are visible nationally and internationally as the next generation of health care leaders.

5 During the past five years, recommendations from FMEC MD have been foundational in guiding our medical education model forward. We are excited to work with our national and community partners, faculty, staff and students in implementing innovations using the principles from the FMEC projects in our education model over the next decade.