Fellowship Program

   

PGCorEDT NOW OPEN!

July 14, 2008

PGCorEd(tm) is now open!

Hello 'NON PGY1' Program Directors, Program Coordinators, Program Assistants

BACKGROUND

In June 2007, Vice Dean - PGME, Dr. Sarita Verma established that:

• By July 2008, All PGY 1 Programs were to be in the Portal.
• By July 2009, the rest of the Residency Training programs need to be in the portal.

UPDATE:

• PGCorEd(tm) is now open and available within the portal for PGY1 programs.
• This PGCorEd(tm) program is compulsory for all PGY1 trainees who started in July 2008.
• ANY other trainees (i.e. fellows, electives, PGY2-5 trainees, that YOU WANT, can have access to PGCorEd(tm)....can be added )
• ANY other faculty that YOU WANT to have access to PGCorEd(tm) can be added
• The End of Life Care Module has been released as the first module.
• The Manager Module will be pilot tested in July with a planned release in August.
• Over the 08-09 academic year we will release 4 more modules as they are completed (i.e. Manager, Learner & Teacher, Communicator, Collaborator).
• Over the 09-10 academic year we will release several more (i.e. Patient Safety, Professional, Cultural Fluency, Scholar, Health Advocacy).
• Each Module has 6-8 Units which each take approximately 30 minutes. There is a test at the end of each unit. The whole module is approximately 4 hours to complete. Trainees can do 1 or more units at a time.
• On MONDAY July 14th, a broadcast email will go to all PGY1 trainees that PGCorEd(tm) is now open & available. Trainees will be directed to contact their programs for advice and direction on how PGCorEd(tm) will be programmed within their program.

ACCESS to PGCorEd(tm):

• There is a PORTAL icon and link on the U of T website and the bottom left corner of PGME website http://www.pgme.utoronto.ca/site3.aspx
• Access to Portal is through UTOR ID (i.e. same as the login & password for U of T Webmail).
  • Trainees' login and temporary password (i.e. SAC = secret access code) is found on their POWER profile. (i.e. top Right corner of personal profile page).
  • Faculty in need U of T email addresses (i.e. including Program Directors and Program Assistants). Faculty need to be specifically added to your portal site for access.
• Contact Tamara Bahr t.bahr@utoronto.cato make changes for access to your program portal (i.e. to add yourself, change your trainee lists, change your staff lists)
• For the purposes of the pilot testing of each module, we have sent you time limited logins (i.e. temporary/testing logins start with 'qq'). Those logins do NOT link to your program portal page or the current version of PGCorEd(tm)

TRAINING

• We have done Portal Training for 'PGY1' Program Directors, Program Coordinators & Assistants over the past year.
• In Fall and Winter 2008, we will do Portal Training for 'NON PGY1' Program Directors, Coordinators & Assistants
• We have done training on PGCorEd(tm) for Program Directors, Program Coordinators & Assistants over the past month (i.e. June 11, July 10, 16)
• In Fall 08, we will also offer PGCorEd(tm) orientation workshops for trainees - on how to get the most out of this 'online learning system'.

NEXT STEPS

• Make plans so that your program portal is 'open for business' by Spring 2009 (i.e. or sooner!)
• Identify which staff has UTOR ID and who needs one.
• Contact Tamara Bahr t.bahr@utoronto.cato make changes to add yourself, change your trainee lists, change your staff lists.
• Determine if and how PGCorEd(tm) will be used in your program (i.e. when/where)
• Enroll in Portal Training (i.e. how to set up Portal for your program) and PGCorEd(tm) workshop for ideas of how to maximize the usefulness of this resource in your program (i.e. on July 16^th from 3-5 @ MSB 3175) by contact Kelly Killip to Register Kelly.killip@utoronto.ca
• If you have ANY questions, do not hesitate to contact me sglover.takahashi@utoronto.ca

THANKS

• The development and implementation of this initiative has been a fabulous collaborative effort

for PGCorEd(tm)

• Administratively the thanks go to Dr. Sarita Verma for her vision and leadership; to Loreta Muharuma for her guidance and support; to Kelly Killip for her energy and assistance
• Technically the leadership goes to Dr. Chi-Ming Chow who, as Lead Faculty for PGCorEd(tm), stepped up and for the last 18 months has devoted his considerable talent and technology savvy to shepherding the 'birth' of this initiative; to Dr. Avi Hyman and his Discovery Commons team who guided and enabled with speed and grace, to Tamara Bahr as the Lead Instructional Designer shared her personal abilities and enthusiasm for excellence to ensure the best solution to each problem and road bump.

For End of Life Care Module

• Funding support for the End of Life Care Module is thanks to Dr. Laura Hawrlyuck, the Physician Leader for the Ian Anderson Continuing Education Program in End-of-Life Care who showed faith in this initiative by investing in the idea before we had even begun.
• Module development leadership for the first module was provided by Dr. Laura Hawryluck who was the Physician Leader; by Dr. Anita Singh who did much of the 'heavy lifting' building content and sharing her considerable experience in developing quality on-line educational materials; by Dr. Dori Seccareccia who provided wise counsel and advice to several units; and to Dr. James Downey and Dr. Glendon Tait for their enthusiasm and assistance building the unit.
• It is a sign of the commitment to humanistic patient care at University of Toronto that the first module launched in PGCorEd(tm) is on End Of Life Care.
• Being a member of the first development team on a complex curriculum project - where there are no handbooks, templates or guides - is both exciting and incredibly challenging. The 'newness' of PGCorEd(tm) meant that this group was simultaneously inventing systems and developing content.. I want to personally thank Anita, Laura, Dori, James, Glendon, Chi Ming and Tamara for their considerable leadership and scholarly contribution to postgraduate medical education at the University of Toronto.

Best regards,

Susan Glover Takahashi, PhD, MA
Director, Education & Research
Postgraduate Medical Education
Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine
Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy
University of Toronto

EMAIL: sglover.takahashi@utoronto.ca
PHONE 416.946.3844
FACSIMILE 416.978.7144
500 University Avenue, Suite 602
Toronto ON M5G 1V7