Enhanced Skills in Family Medicine

The Enhanced Skills program offers competency-based clinical teaching at the third-year resident level focused on the needs of patient populations. The University of Toronto offers both Category 1 and Category 2 programs accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Graduates from the Enhanced Skills program practice comprehensive family medicine and act as a resource to their patients and colleagues in their area of enhanced training.

Enhanced Skills Programs

Explore the wide variety of specialized training programs below that our Enhanced Skills Program for third-year residents and physicians. Get a quick view and compare program details such as the number of positions, funding and program length in our program chart below.

PROGRAMS	POSITIONS	LENGTH	PROGRAM DIRECTOR(S)
Addiction Medicine (Cat. 1)	2-3	1 year	Dr. Erin Lurie
Adolescent Medicine (Cat. 2)	1	6 months	Dr. Patricia Windrim
Anesthesia (Cat. 1)	4	1 year	Dr. Vaibhav Kamble
Breast Diseases (Cat. 2)	1-2	6 months	Dr. Orli Shachar
Care of the Elderly (Cat. 1)	2-3	1 year	Dr. Amy Freedman
Clinical Environmental Health (Cat. 2)	Varies	1 year	Dr. Riina Bray
Clinician Scholar (Cat.1)	1	1 year	Dr. Liisa Jaakkimainen
Education Scholar (Cat. 2)	1-2	1 year	Dr. M. Kulasegaram/ Dr. L. Herzog
Emergency Medicine (Cat. 1)	9	1 year	Dr. Amna Karabegovic
Family Medicine & Enhanced Skills Integrated 3-Year Program (FAMES I3P)	2	3 years	Dr. A. Freedman (CoE) and Dr. S. Kawaguchi (PC) Application open February 2024
Global Health and Vulnerable Populations (Cat. 2)	2	1 year	Dr. Leila Makhani
HIV Care (Cat. 2)	2-3	6 months	Dr. Gordon Arbess
Hospital Medicine (Cat.2)	4	1 year	Dr. Benjamin Kaasa
Indigenous Health	1-2	6 or 12 months	Program on Hiatus until further notice
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (Cat. 2)	1	6 or 12 months	Dr. Dara Abells
2SLGBTQ Health (Cat. 2)	1-2	6 months	Dr. Amy Bourns
Low-Risk Obstetrics (Cat. 2)	16	3 months	Dr. Lara Rosenberg
Palliative Care (Cat. 1)	2-3	1 year	Dr. Sarah Kawaguchi
Sport and Exercise Medicine (Cat. 1)	2-3	1 year	Dr. Mark Leung
Women's Health (Cat. 2)	2	1 year	Dr. Kymm Feldman

Enhanced Skills Admissions

Candidates applying to Category 1 programs (Addiction Medicine, FP-Anesthesia, Care of the Elderly, Emergency Medicine, Palliative Care and Sport & Exercise Medicine) should apply through CaRMS.

Admissions Schedule for Category 2 Programs

August 14, 2023	Application Process Opens
September 13, 2023	Application Deadline Date
Sep 29 - Nov 10, 2023	Interview Period
November 17, 2023	Acceptance Notification
November 24, 2023	Acceptance Deadline

Category 1 programs (except Clinician Scholar Program) - Applicant timeline

Application Eligibility

Funding	Eligibility
Ministry of Health	Those who are currently enrolled as a PGY2 in a Canadian Family Medicine Residency Program at the time of application. Residents must start their PGY3 year within 12 months of completing their PGY2 year. N.B.: Those enrolled in a PGY3 Enhanced Skills Program at the time of application are NOT eligible to apply to another PGY3 Enhanced Skills position.
Ministry of Health Re-Entry Program	Practicing physicians must apply separately through the Ministry of Health and Long Term Health Re-Entry Program. Selection is determined by application program review and program capacity. Note that different timelines apply to Re-Entry applicants. Please visit the Re-Entry Program webpage for more information.
Sponsored Visa Trainees	The University of Toronto currently has training agreements in place with: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Our program is unable to consider applicants from countries where a training agreement is not currently in place. Sponsored Visa Trainees (SVTs) from these countries must apply directly through the Post MD Education Office. Only a few of our programs accept SVTs and selection is determined by application program review and program capacity. These programs are: Addiction Medicine, Care of the Elderly, Palliative Care, Sport & Exercise Medicine and Women's Health. Visit their individual program description for more details.

Funding

Eligibility

Ministry of Health

Those who are currently enrolled as a PGY2 in a Canadian Family Medicine Residency Program at the time of application.
Residents must start their PGY3 year within 12 months of completing their PGY2 year.

N.B.: Those enrolled in a PGY3 Enhanced Skills Program at the time of application are NOT eligible to apply to another PGY3 Enhanced Skills position.

Ministry of Health Re-Entry Program

Practicing physicians must apply separately through the Ministry of Health and Long Term Health Re-Entry Program.
Selection is determined by application program review and program capacity.

Note that different timelines apply to Re-Entry applicants. Please visit the Re-Entry Program webpage for more information.

How to Apply

Requirements Category 2 programs and Clinician Scholar Category 1 program:

Completed Online Application Form (note that this link is only active during application period)
Letter of Intent (to the attention of the Program Director of the program of choice) addressing objectives and motivations for pursuing additional training
Current CV
Copy of Medical Degree
Three (3) references*, one of which must be from your residency Program Director or Site Director. Note: University of Toronto applicants should be requesting a reference letter from their Site Director.

Please note that referees will be submitting references online via the online application system. These requests are generated electronically once an application is submitted and a confirmation is sent to the applicant. Referees will have until September 27, 2023, independently on when the application is submitted and approved by the Enhanced Skills Office. Applications without the three (3) required reference letters will NOT be reviewed.

Requirements Category 1 programs (except Clinician Scholar Program)

Please review individual program descriptions on CaRMS at https://www.carms.ca/match/family-medicine-enhanced-skills-match/program-descriptions/

Please review our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for answers to your application and funding questions.

Supplemental Emergency Medicine Experience (SEME)

SEME is an innovative program funded through the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to provide family physicians practicing in smaller and rural communities with a three-month, full time, remunerated fellowship in Emergency Medicine.

For more information, visit SEME.

Continuing Education and Masters Students

In past years, many DFCM Enhanced Skills fellows have successfully incorporated a DFCM continuing education (CE) or Masters Degree program alongside their clinical fellowship program. Such an arrangement requires a separate application into an academic fellowship or graduate studies program as well as approval of the Enhanced Skills Clinical Program Director.

Visit our Academic Fellowships and Graduate Studies page.