Teaching Practices

Community/Rural Family Medicine Experience

Dr. Erika Catford and Fadio Bravo

All second-year Family Medicine residents complete two consecutive four-week blocks of community/rural training through the Teaching Practices (TP) program. 

The Department of Family and Community Medicine's (DFCM) TP network includes more than 90 experienced faculty located in approximately 35 community/rural practices from southern Ontario to northern and remote Ontario.

Explore our Teaching Practices Rural and Community Site

About DFCM Teaching Practices 

All residents are required to complete two consecutive four-week blocks as part of the Family Medicine Residency Program certification as set out by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. During this time, residents must live in the same community to allow for continuity of care. Financial assistance is provided to offset travel and accommodation expenses.

During the two consecutive blocks, residents work alongside their assigned preceptor providing care to patients in the office and in hospital, assisting in surgery, working in the emergency department, doing intrapartum obstetrics, visiting nursing homes, and doing house calls. Residents are typically allowed a significant degree of autonomy and responsibility under their preceptor’s supervision and will often develop additional procedural skills. 

Many residents find their Teaching Practices experience so rewarding that they return to work or locum in their TP community after graduation.

Residents will have the opportunity to take part in the TP matching process to rank their preferred TP rural/community site. More information and other supporting documents will be provided to all residents in early Fall during their PGY-1 year.

DFCM’s Teaching Practices Committee regularly evaluates all rural and community sites to ensure they continue to meet the standard set for Teaching Practices.

Teaching Practices Mission

  • To provide trainees with a comprehensive Family Medicine experience and inspire future careers in community/rural practice.
  • To provide a spectrum of experience through rural, small town, suburban and city practices.
  • To promote an understanding of the needs of communities.
  • To emphasize the role of family physicians in community hospitals, including inpatient obstetrical and emergency care.
  • To understand how physicians and families integrate into the life of the community.
  • To teach good stewardship of family physicians' time and talents through efficient practice management.

Teaching Practices Learning Objectives

  • The resident will demonstrate competence in caring for an adequate patient volume on a daily basis.
  • The resident will demonstrate ability in caring for both hospitalized inpatients and ambulatory office patients concurrently.
  • The resident will have participated in the care of patients in a variety of settings in a practice pattern similar to their preceptor's.
  • The resident will manifest an understanding of the context of family medicine in a community setting.
  • The resident will show a basic understanding of the business and management aspects of family medicine.
  • The resident will show measurable gains towards the goals set in consultation with the preceptor at the intake and mid-rotation interviews.

Are you interested in becoming a Teaching Practices Preceptor? 

Eligibility:

  • You are in good standing with the CPSO
  • Your family practice is in a rural Ontario community
  • Your practice provides opportunities for inpatient care and offers intrapartum obstetrics or emergency room experience

Benefits:

  • Teaching stipend
  • University of Toronto faculty appointment
  • Mainpro-accredited CME opportunities
  • UofT Library access
  • Opportunity to teach and mentor senior medical residents and future colleague

Please see contacts below if interested in becoming a TP preceptor.

Teaching Practices Contacts

Name 

Title 

E-mail 

Phone Number

Dr. Erika Catford
 

TP Program Director

erika.catford@utoronto.ca 

 

Ms. Fadia Bravo                     

TP Administrator         

dfcm.teachingpractice@utoronto.ca 

416-978-8530

TBD 

TP Resident Representative 

TBD