About the Program

Our Department is hosting virtual information sessions. Dr. Michele Farrugia, Residency Program Director, Dr. Janet Bodley, Associate Program Director, other faculty members and residents will be available to answer questions and provide information about our Program.

Dates and Times:

• Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at 5:30 PM EST
• Monday, December 13, 2021 at 7:00 PM EST

To register for one or both sessions, please provide your contact details at the link here. Closer to the date of each event, Zoom login details will be provided directly to registrants.

There will be an opportunity to speak with residents during our CaRMS InfoNights; however, if you would like to connect with a resident one-on-one to find out more about their experience in the program, we would be happy to put you in touch with a current trainee. Please contact pg.obgyn@utoronto.ca.

Additional links for more information on applying to residency:

• Post-Graduate Medical Education For Applicants (Includes information on the different applicant streams)
• CaRMS R-1 Residency Match (Includes information for both Canadian Medical Graduates and International Medical Graduates; updated at the beginning of September each year)
• Internationally Sponsored Trainees (See International Resident Applicants section)
• CANPREPP Canadian residency program information hub

• The Surgical Skills Curriculum is designed to provide opportunity for acquisition of basic-to-advanced skills important for Obstetrics and Gynaecology by using bench models, trainers, and computer simulation in a state-of-the-art facility. 
• The weekly academic half-day (AHD) sessions includes reviews of essential topics led by faculty and residents over a two-year cycle, topics alternate between obstetrics and gynaecology content areas. 
• Since July 1, 2008, all University of Toronto residents entering PGY1 are required to complete the web-based PGCoreEd core competency modules as part of their residency program certification. These modules provide the foundation for non-clinical roles for the RCPSC and CFPC Programs and are focused for PGY1 and PGY2 trainees. 
• The Clinician Investigator Program (CIP) is a fully funded two-year Master’s degree program, usually undertaken between PGY3 and 4. PhD training is also an option. 
• A two-week Surgical Foundations Prep Camp provides a fantastic intense learning opportunity for acquisition of basic surgical skills. 
• Clinical Epidemiology/Journal Club sessions are held three to four times a year. 
• Research Proposal Sessions provide an opportunity for Residents to present their research idea at an early stage, receive feedback, and ensure the project is doable. 
• Post-graduate Medicine Education (PGME) at the University of Toronto offers many courses for residents to enrich their education. Examples include courses in leadership, teaching or global health.  

Residency Program Objectives are to: 

1. Deliver broad-based clinical and academic training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology with the goal of creating the foundation for independent practice in general Obstetrics and Gynaecology or as the foundation for subspecialty fellowship training. 
2. Fulfil all the objectives required for specialty training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology as set out by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. 
3. Focus on: 
   • Clinical experiences in general and subspecialty areas of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, as seen in large academic health science centers and community hospitals in a large and culturally diverse city. 
4. Create opportunities for: 
   • Attainment of research skills, 
   • Global Health experiences, and 
   • Personal development of leadership skills. 
5. Ensure graded responsibility in the acquisition of leadership skills required of a hospital specialist, and to emphasize the development of teaching skills. 
6. Offer a milieu that emphasizes: 
   • A culture of life-long learning,  
   • The importance of teamwork and support of all members of the healthcare team, and 
   • Nurtures wellness in all our trainees. 
7. Provide the environment, mentorship, and experience that will allow each resident to achieve the goals outlined above. 

The PGY1 training comprises 13 four-week rotation blocks (1 block = approximately 4 weeks) 

The PGY1 residents enter a Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) training program known as Competency-By-Design (CBD), as mandated by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).  

The PGY1 residents are concurrently enrolled in the Royal College Surgical Foundations (SF) Program: they attend a surgery "Prep Camp" in July; attend labs and lectures throughout the year; and write the Royal College SF exam in the fall of their PGY2 year. Surgical Foundations is a Royal College Competence by Design program.

In the first stage of residency, Transition to Discipline (TTD), residents complete three rotations: one block of Transition to Residency, and two blocks of Core Obstetrics and Gynaecology (one at an academic and the other at a community hospital site).  

In the Foundations to Discipline (FOD) stage, anticipated to last until the end of PGY2, residents will participate in the following rotations: 

• Internal Medicine – Clinical Teaching Unit (1 block) 
• Internal Medicine – Ambulatory Medicine (1 block) 
• Ultrasound (1 block) 
• Emergency Medicine (1 block) 
• Ambulatory Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1 block) 
• Intensive Care Unit (Medical surgical) (1 block) 
• Family Planning (1 block) 
• General Surgery (1 block) 
• Gynaecologic Oncology (1 block) 
• Core Obstetrics and Gynaecology (14 blocks) 

A special opportunity for PGY1 trainees is the Longitudinal Ambulatory Rotation (LAR), where each PGY1 trainee works in an ambulatory clinic two half-days per month from September to June, directly with a faculty member who acts as a preceptor and mentor. Although PGY1s benefit from a wide experience in many specialties during their first year, some residents might feel detached from their core interest — obstetrics and gynaecology — and colleagues. The LAR was developed in 2004 to address this and help residents stay in touch with their specialty. 

These three years comprise the following rotations in accordance with Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada requirements. As CBD roll-out continues, small changes are anticipated for the class of residents starting July 2019, in order to meet updated RCPSC requirements.  

All required subspecialty rotations are provided at University of Toronto clinical sites. The order of rotations varies with the needs of the resident. All residents have exposure to community practice throughout the Program. 

• Core Obstetrics and Gynaecology (at major-teaching hospitals, community-hospital sites, and endoscopy centres) 
• Chief Residency 
• Gynaecologic Oncology 
• Maternal-Fetal Medicine 
• Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility / Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology 
• Urogynaecology 
• Research (Note: A requirement in the OBGYN Residency Program) 
• Electives and Selectives 

The 3-block research experience allows the resident exposure to either clinical research, basic science research, or a Quality Improvement (QI) project under the guidance of Department faculty. All residents are required to present their scholarly work at the Department’s Annual Research Day. Satisfactory completion of residency training at the University of Toronto requires completion of a scholarly project. 

The University of Toronto Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology provides all levels of care to the local community, and tertiary and quaternary care to the province of Ontario. Together, the three major teaching hospital sites within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) - Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH), St. Michael's Hospital (SMH), and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC) - have over 35,000 deliveries a year and a large number of gynaecologic operative cases.  

We are also fortunate to be able to provide learning opportunities at community-based teaching hospitals – North York General Hospital, Credit Valley Hospital (part of Trillium Health Partners), St. Joseph’s Health Centre and Michael Garron Hospital (part of the Toronto East Health Network). All residents will be scheduled in community hospitals during their training and must be prepared to travel around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for their rotations.  

We also have University of Toronto Obstetrics and Gynaecology faculty members at Humber River Hospital, Royal Victoria Hospital (Barrie) and in Thunder Bay, allowing residents to have novel experiences in different settings. 

You can see a list of the teaching and community hospitals we are associated with here.

Accessibility Services: http://www.accessibility.utoronto.ca/Home.htm  

Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME), Faculty of Medicine: http://www.pgme.utoronto.ca/  

Resident Wellness Resources, Postgrad Medical Education: https://pg.postmd.utoronto.ca/current-trainees/while-youre-training/access-wellness-resources/