Discovery Week
Discovery Week 2025 Dates
Week One: Monday, May 26 - Friday, May 30, 2025*
Week Two: Monday, June 2 - Friday, June 6, 2025*
Plan to arrive to your community on Sunday, ready to start your placement Monday at 0800.
Monday - Thursday: community placement
Friday: reserved to complete assignment
Download the presentation from January 8 Information Session
Discovery Week Student Participation Form
The Discovery Week Student Participation form will open on January 6, 2025, and will close on January 31, 2025.
Discovery Week is for first-year medicine students. The last day of class is scheduled for June 6, 2025, and students are expected to be available up until this date. If you have a specific date-related accommodation or absence during Discovery Week due to health/compassionate or other reasons, please submit your request via the Schulich Hub for consideration no later than January 31, 2025. Please identify the week that you do not wish to be assigned and provide sufficient detail to allow a decision to be made. Please note that flex days cannot be used for Discovery Week. For all other accommodation requests that do not pertain to a specific week assignment but are related to health or compassionate circumstances, please feel free to connect with the Learner Experience Office.
About Discovery Week
Discovery Week is a mandatory one-week placement at the end of the first year for all undergraduate medical students at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. Learners are placed in more than 60 rural and regional communities in Southwestern Ontario.
Students will have the opportunity to:
- shadow physicians and healthcare
professionals and learn what their typical workday encompasses - networking with the various healthcare teams
- experience rural and regional living in communities throughout Southwestern Ontario
- Students please visit the Discovery Week Elentra Page for updates.
Discovery Week Goals
Introduce all undergraduate medical students at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry to the opportunities and challenges of living and working in a rural or regional community. Involve students in first-hand
Discovery Week Objectives
Every placement is unique. These four areas of focus will vary depending upon the site. Students will have opportunities for these experiences through varying disciplines and with a variety of healthcare professionals.
- Orientation and Awareness: This will provide an opportunity for students to become familiar with the parameters, dynamics, and systems involved in rural/regional medical practice.
- Inter-Professional Education/ Inter-Professional Care (IPE/IPC): This experience is to provide exposure to teamwork and collaboration undertaken within a rural/regional site.
- Medical Care in a Rural/Regional Site (with a focus on
acute or chronic disease): This will allow an opportunity for students to develop an understanding of the challenges of delivering and receiving acute or chronic care within a rural/regional site. - Working with Diverse Populations: This will provide an opportunity for students to develop an awareness of the challenge of chronic/acute disease management in diverse patient populations.
Claiming a Travel Expense for Discovery Week - deadline is June 15
Complete the Travel Expense Form before the deadline.
Questions? Email distributed.education@schulich.uwo.ca
Discovery Week Videos
Stratford 2024
Listowel 2024
Woostock 2024
Petrolia 2024
Wingham 2024
Windsor 2024
