In Undergraduate Medical Education, our course directors fulfill a pivotal role in meeting core educational requirements, with individual lectures delivered by instructors from a cross-section of departments. I am working to improve this matrix to enhance communication and transparency. Dr. Ira Ripstein, Associate Dean, UGME, and Dr. Chris Christodoulou, Director of Curriculum, will provide important links in the feedback loop so that any course issues will be communicated to the appropriate academic lead and, we anticipate, be dealt with in a timely manner.

Our 27 Department Heads have vast educational, clinical and/or research demands on their time ; and they play an integral role in fostering a culture that encourages and supports UGME teaching. I want to ensure that all Department Heads have sufficient administrative supports to deliver curricular education and we are undertaking an inventory of these resources to assess the current state.

I have allocated $700,000 to recruit a Head for the Department of Medical Education to serve as a resource to the rest of the Faculty and develop a master teacher program to enhance the quality of teaching here.

I am also planning academic recognition outside of research funding to support and recognize teaching development and scholarly activity by providing support for academic leadership. My hope is that we can encourage our younger faculty members to take on academic leadership roles and contribute to their profession and our medical school.

While I am conscious that even a little recognition would be welcomed by our dedicated instructors, I am also considering an annual awards dinner to honour our faculty members. This would be an opportunity to acknowledge teaching excellence, and we would consult and co-ordinate with the annual MMSA teaching awards.
Congratulations to the Teaching Award Winners for 2009/10. View the Teaching Award Winners here

After a consultative process, we have also completed new UGME learning objectives. The new learning objectives will ensure we meet our mission of assisting students to become competent, caring, ethical physicians with the ability to think critically. View the new learning objectives here