Faculty Professional Development Day offers sessions on health, wellness, finance

Our Department’s recent Faculty Professional Development Day brought together 66 attendees representing 12 hospitals for a diverse program of workshops and sessions that covered topics including physician wellbeing, financial literacy, and creating effective presentations.

Organized around the theme “Health and Healing: Cultivating Physician Wellbeing for a Supportive Academic Environment,” the event featured sessions and workshops led by our own faculty members as well as experts from other departments at U of T.

The majority of guests chose to attend the hybrid event in person at Chestnut Residence, where the schedule of sessions was followed by a wine and cheese reception and raffle.

“We were very happy to see such an enthusiastic and engaged group of attendees for this year’s Faculty Professional Development Day,” said Dr. Suzanne Wong, director of faculty development. “We had a great lineup of speakers, and we were fortunate to be able to tap into our Department’s own roster of experts, who are sought-after speakers nationally and internationally.

“The faculty development committee is committed to supporting our members with activities and events like this one that will assist in career development, clinical teaching, education, research, and scholarship.”

The event — an accredited event for 3.5 Royal College Section 1 credits — began with a plenary session moderated by associate professor Dr. Janet Bodley titled “Walking the Wellness Walk: Fostering a Culture of Caring for Self and Others.”

Afterwards, attendees could choose from several small-group sessions:

• “Revival Over Survival: The Future of the Surgeon Parent” with reproductive endocrinology and infertility fellow Dr. Shirin Dason and Dr. Andrea Simpson, an associate professor in our Department

• “Show and Tell: Constructing Effective Teaching Dossiers” with Dr. John Teshima, an associate professor with the Department of Psychiatry

• “What I Learned From the Top 0.01%: Lessons on Wealth, Taxes, and Happiness” with Dr. Stephanie Zhou, a financial literacy expert and an assistant professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine

• “Dance with Your Graphics: Designing and Using Visual Media in Oral Presentations to Effectively Communicate with your Audience” with Michael Corrin, the associate director of the Institute of Medical Science’s Biomedical Communications Graduate Program

"The feedback from the day was positive with participants appreciating the ability to meet in person and connect with colleagues while learning facts and skills relevant to their careers," Wong said.

"The faculty development committee is committed to planning sessions that representing the needs of our department broadly. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us on the committee."