Undergraduate Program
There exist a number of opportunities to teach medical students in the Undergraduate Program. Although the majority of students are either in first year (i.e., Community Week) or third year (i.e., Core Clerkship Rotations), there are also elective opportunities. For physicians interested in coming to Ottawa, a number of pre-clerkship non clinical small group teaching opportunities are also available.
Pre-clerkship (First and Second Year)
Community Week
Community Week is a mandatory one-week shadowing experience for first year students. Traditionally, it takes place at the end of the first year. The week is organized through ERMEP, with students traveling out to various Southeastern Ontario communities. This has become an extremely popular placement, giving these students their first taste of both clinical medicine and small town living. The Preceptor Guide provides more details on students’ skills and placement organization. Unfortunately, there is no provincial preceptor funding for this week, although there is Ministry funding for housing and travel expenses. Community physicians who are not already involved in Community Week should not be surprised to hear from ERMEP.
Electives
There are a number of student electives available in pre-clerkship that can be done either in Ottawa, or in rural communities. Students are encouraged to do a ten-hour elective in either first or second year. These primarily consist of shadowing experiences and are organized by the students directly.
As well, there is a mandatory twenty-hour elective in second year that takes place in March. This placement is also organized by the students directly with the help of the preceptors. There is no network involvement for this elective. Students are encouraged to contact the Electives Office which can provide valuable help with the organization (e.g., evaluation, confirmation). These electives are remunerated.
Pre-clerkship Teaching Opportunities (Non Elective)
There are a number of teaching opportunities in Pre-clerkship, from teaching physical examination skills to tutoring small groups. All of these take place in Ottawa and are remunerated. For more information, please contact the DME Office.
Clerkship (Third and Fourth Year)
At the University of Ottawa, the clinical rotations are referred to as core rotations. Students do eight six-week rotations in third year in the following disciplines:
Internal Medicine Pediatrics
Psychiatry Obstetrics and Gynecology
Mandatory Selective Family Medicine
Surgery Acute care
All core rotations include academic sessions which are either done in Ottawa or using webcasting. DME core rotations are generally four weeks in duration. All of these rotations follow very specific objectives, and students must pass these rotations to graduate from medical school. Each rotation is led by Rotation Director who will do an accreditation visit in the community before students are sent.
In Family Medicine, site visits are ongoing, although most community physicians have usually met their network director. With few exceptions such as the Montfort and Queensway-Carleton hospitals, core rotations are actually organized and booked via the local rural network, ERMEP. Working together, the DME Office and ERMEP ensure preceptor availability and the completion of learner and preceptor evaluations.
Community physicians should receive clear rotation objectives before starting a rotation. Otherwise, the DME Office or the respective rotation administrator should be contacted. At the beginning of the rotation, the community physician should review these objectives with the student and inquire whether the latter wishes to add any other distinct objectives they hope to achieve in this particular rotation.
It is essential to hold an evaluation session of the student half-way through the rotation and again at the end of the rotation. The community physician should give objective and constructive feedback to the students and include as many narrative comments as possible on the evaluation forms. To discuss the case of a student experiencing difficulties (e.g., academic, professional), the physician should contact the DME Office as soon as possible. Concerns must be documented, thus the importance of the mid-rotation feedback session.
Family Physicians contacts are the network, the DME Office or the Family Medicine Undergraduate Office. For specialists in Ottawa affiliated sites, local administrative support exists. Also, preceptors are remunerated for teaching clerks. For further information, please consult the Remuneration section.
Most of the fourth year program offered at University of Ottawa is elective based. Students who have not done their mandatory four-week rural rotation in third year will have to complete a four-week rural elective in fourth year. As this constitutes an elective rotation versus a core clerkship rotation, there are no set objectives. Community physicians and students should establish the rotation objectives on the first day. These objectives must be evaluated in the same way as those of a clerk. This elective rotation is booked via the Rural Networks and the remuneration is similar to that of other elective rotations.
Many students complete two-week electives in fourth year. As the rural network’s mandate is to support rotations of at least four-week duration, there is no funding for travel, housing or preceptor stipends. However, there are other sources of funding as described in the Remuneration section.