Reflections on Residency Uof T Alumni on Postgraduate Experiences, Past and Present
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17498 Relay MAA Matter.qxd 11/24/06 10:31 AM Page 1 UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MEDICAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE Winter 2006 MAAMATTERS Reflections on residency Uof T alumni on postgraduate experiences, past and present HAVE YOUR SAY • CONVOCATION 2006 • A NEW WAY TO DONATE 17498 Relay MAA Matter.qxd 11/21/06 10:00 AM Page 2 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dr. Suan-Seh Foo (Class of 1990) Over 100 years of reaching out to students and alumni MAA connects past, present and future in a tradition of helping and excellence hat does the Medical student financial assistance a priority, and the quadrangle. This celebration of our Alumni Association mean the MAA is committed to working with past is the platform for our future growth, to you? For some, it’s the the Faculty on this critical issue. I thank and we should nurture an awareness of our Wfun of rekindling old you for your tremendous financial support rich history. memories and friendships at a class and response to our MAA appeals. Connecting you with that past—and the reunion. For others, it’s the satisfaction of We are also dedicated to enhancing our present—means we also endeavour to knowing that their financial support students’ educational and extracurricular bring you an informative and entertaining means that today’s U of T medical stu- experiences by working with the Medical magazine. In our next issue, we will be dents can concentrate on their lectures and Society and the Office of Student Affairs. asking you to complete a survey on your labs instead of on their mounting debt. Our desire to represent and connect stu- opinions of MAA Matters. And for still others, it’s receiving this mag- dents and alumni beyond the MAA means So where do we go from here? We con- azine, MAA Matters, and quickly turning we also reach out to various Faculty of tinue on the same course which has served to the “Class Notes” pages to catch up on Medicine and U of T committees. MAA all of us so well. However, we will be look- news of colleagues past, and present. ing at bigger and better ways of achieving Regardless of your reflections, one com- Our desire to represent our agenda; this will require all our collec- mon purpose we all share in our affiliation and connect students and tive efforts. with the MAA is a focus on connecting a alumni beyond the MAA I wish to welcome Dr. Peter Kopplin tradition of excellence from one generation means we also reach out to (1963) as our new secretary. He succeeds to the next. What many of you may not various Faculty of Medicine Dr. Irv Lipton (1962), whom I sincerely realize is that the MAA dates back to the and U of T committees. thank for his long service. I would like to 1890s. It was incorporated in 1947 and in express my deep appreciation to Dr. 1956 we received our not-for-profit (chari- Barnett Giblon (1957), our vice-president, table) status. Our mandate was, and is, the for the wonderful assistance and advice he following: has given us. Drs. Keystone, Habal, • To assist the undergraduate student body Kurdyak, and Patterson should also be rec- in financial matters. ognized for their constant support, time • To recognize and reward excellence in board members sit on Faculty Council, and tremendous effort. performance. Admissions, Electives and Awards commit- It is also my great pleasure to congratu- • To support the Faculty of Medicine by tees, and at the university level, the late Dr. Steven Tishler, our past treasurer, assisting students in their educational College of Electors, Governing Council for being granted the U of T Arbor Award goals. and The Council of Presidents. for outstanding volunteerism. I am also • To act as a resource and a focal point for But our role as “connectors” also means grateful to our dean, Dr. Whiteside, for alumni activities. we get to have fun. All of us at the MAA her support and encouragement. I contin- This past 2005/06 has been both a year find one of our most rewarding and enjoy- ue to recognize with appreciation our of consolidating and expanding our man- able activities is bringing the medical class- administrator, Ruth Gillings, for her date. The challenges facing our medical es together in the annual June tremendous and dedicated contribution to students continue to mount, especially on Convocation Banquet held at Hart House. the MAA. And again, I thank you, our the fiscal front. Dr. Catharine Whiteside It was a wonderful event this year, so well alumni, for your interest and support. (1975), our Dean of Medicine, has made attended that our guests spilled out into “Semper Floreat.” 2 University of Toronto • Winter 2006 17498 Relay MAA Matter.qxd 11/21/06 10:00 AM Page 3 DEAN’S MESSAGE Dr. Catharine Whiteside (Class of 1975) Innovations in education and training Students embrace roles as communicators and collaborators sional education differs significantly from a discipline-specific curriculum in which each student studies exclusively within their own profession. The interprofessional education approach is about teaching and learning in a team setting. It is an opportunity for our medical trainees to gain an understanding of the special skills that other health profession- als provide and how these skills benefit the team, and, most importantly, the patient. In a health care system increasingly focused on multidisciplinary teams, it only makes sense to learn together with future colleagues in nursing, pharmacy, rehabilitation sciences and all of our health profession partners. Opportunities for interprofessional learn- ing by practising health professionals are emerging within our continuing education programs. Specialized programs in wound care, arthritis, stroke prevention and treat- ment and many more, emphasize interpro- fessional evidence-based team care. In our Centre for Faculty Development at St. From L to R, Ruth Gillings, MAA Administrator with MAA board Michael’s Hospital, teaching faculty from executive: Drs. Barney Giblon, Flavio Habal, Peter Kopplin, Suan-Seh Foo, multiple health disciplines are learning how Vic Kurdyak and Catharine Whiteside (seated). Absent: Dr. Jay Keystone. to deliver interprofessional education and ver the years, with great pride “collaborator,” “manager,” “health advocate,” evaluate these skills. In our Wilson Centre I have watched the MD pro- “scholar,” and “professional.” For example, for Research in (Health) Education at the gram develop and incorporate the Comprehensive Research Experience for University Health Network, analysis of inter- innovative approaches to med- Medical Students (CREMS) program pro- professional teaching and learning is leading Oical education to ensure that our Faculty vides students with opportunities to partici- to new models of curriculum development attracts the best students, and that our gradu- pate in research during their MD program. and delivery in the health professions. ates continue to deliver outstanding patient- Also worthy of note is the recent establish- The Faculty is proud of its inter-discipli- centred care. For this reason, I am very pleased ment of the University’s Office of nary, patient-centred approach to learning about innovations in the MD curriculum Interprofessional Education through the gen- and care. Emphasis on interprofessional PHOTO: KEVIN KELLY based on the seven competencies identified erous support of the Health Deans from the education creates exciting learning opportu- by CanMEDS 2000. Our students are being Provost’s Academic Incentive Fund. A nities for our medical trainees, greatly assist- trained as medical experts, but also encour- marked shift from the traditional method of ing their professional development as aged to embrace the roles of “communicator,” education in the health sciences, interprofes- “collaborators” and “health advocates.” I Medical Alumni Association 3 17498 Relay MAA Matter.qxd 11/21/06 10:00 AM Page 4 Reflections on residency From hallway bowling to on call burnout, alumni talk candidly about their postgraduate experiences some of you, it was the best of times. For others, the worst. Those two or more FOR years of postgraduate training can remain unforgettable for any number of rea- sons, from the endless tyranny of “scut” work to the profound satisfaction of saving a life for the first time. While small jobs and big rewards will always remain constants of residency work, other areas of postgraduate training have changed a great deal over the decades. We talked to several U of T meds alumni from various years past and present, to get their per- sonal reflections on residency. 4 University of Toronto • Winter 2006 17498 Relay MAA Matter.qxd 11/21/06 10:01 AM Page 5 In those days, it wasn’t like it is now. You applied to a bunch of hospitals, and received interviews with some of them, and then ultimately ended up taking a job. There was no residency matching system. What’s even more complicated now is that, basically by some time in third year, you have to decide what specialty you want to enter; you go directly into medicine, surgery, psychiatry, etc. There is no rotating internship similar to what we had, which I think is too bad. We had the great opportunity of a rotating internship to decide what spe- cialty to go into, so we had another couple of years to make that decision. It took me a long time to decide… –Dr. Don Cowan (Class of 1956) I graduated in 1956, at which time there was no clerkship so one jumped into work as a junior intern. I did mine at St. Michael’s Hospital and this was proba- bly the best year I ever had as far as learning experiences went. All the staff were superb and the senior residents were also great The Neurosurgery program at the teachers and so friendly.