Chair's Message
Well, a new year has begun and we are well along in the planning for changes in our teaching requirements in Family Medicine.
2019 will see the implementation of a new curriculum in undergraduate medical education, and with that there will be tremendous opportunities for family medicine teachers to lead, and get involved, while utilizing their teaching skills.
An outline of the new curriculum can be reviewed on the School's web site. Like many medical schools, the new curriculum will have an increased focus on generalism as a basis for training medical students to be part of a reformed health care system. With this in mind, family medicine will be called upon to provide a longitudinal clinical experience for medical students starting in first year. The details of this have been described in a recent letter to preceptors, which you should have received earlier this week. Many family medicine preceptors will be needed to provide the best experience for our medical students.
This is an exciting opportunity for learners to experience family medicine from an early stage in their training. For experienced preceptors, this will be a great opportunity to get to know a learner over time and be able to influence their development of generalist and patient-centred skills. For new or less-experienced preceptors, this will be an excellent opportunity to engage in teaching and develop your skills as teachers and mentors. Faculty development will be provided to help all those preceptors who need support to be successful in this program.
Please check your inbox for the letter from Dr. Van Dam and myself, and be ready for this opportunity. Also watch for upcoming faculty development opportunities and take advantage to make this program successful.
As always, I welcome your feedback and questions at swetmore@uwo.ca or via Twitter @DOCSJW.
