Chair's Message
Welcome to spring! Although we did not have a tremendously harsh winter this year, it is nice to usher in the new season with some warmer temperatures, and to see flowers coming up and the leaves coming out (and golf courses opening if you enjoy that!). In this month’s newsletter I want to update everyone on some of what happened, and what’s planned, in our Department of Family Medicine.
Perhaps the biggest thing is the CaRMS match. The annual process that launches graduating medical students into the last leg of their medical training. I hope you saw the article in the London Free Press last month about it - https://lfpress.com/feature/match-day-inside-the-annual-medical-school-milestone.
Here at Western, our Department had both encouraging and discouraging news related to CaRMS. On the discouraging side, we had 38 of 85 positions go unmatched in the first round. This was more vacant positions than last year, but we did expand by seven spots this year based on the Ontario Government’s expansion plan for Family Medicine training. Despite great results filling CMG and IMG streams in our regional programs, and the IMG stream in the London Urban program, we are headed into the second-round match with open spots in London, Windsor, and many of our rural training sites. The work for the second round has been fast and furious with the Postgraduate staff and physician leaders working tirelessly to review hundreds of applications and complete countless interviews that occurred on April 6 and 7. Thank you to all the faculty and residents who gave up one or two weekend mornings to help us find the best of the best candidates to start with us come July 1. Our rankings were submitted earlier this week, and we are excited to find out the match results come April 25.
On a very positive note, despite all the noise in traditional and social media, Western medical students continue to select Family Medicine residencies at one of the highest rates in the country. This year, 44.3 per cent of the graduating class matched to a Family Medicine residency position in the 1st round. Nineteen will be staying here with us at Western, 43 staying in Ontario at one of the other five Medical Schools, and 15 students will be heading west. This is a tremendous result and a huge testament to the work of Department of Family Medicine Faculty within the Undergraduate portfolio. Lead by Dr. Jessica Howard (Undergraduate Education Director), Dr. Silvia Orsini (Family Medicine Clerkship and Electives Director), and Dr. Jennifer Bondy (Windsor Family Medicine Rotation Director) the Schulich undergraduate students receive exceptional teaching and mentoring from Family Medicine faculty. Thank you to all the staff and faculty who have shown our students how exciting, fulfilling, and rewarding a career in Family Medicine can be, despite all the challenges and stress our entire health care system is currently under.
Considering the results of the match from both the undergraduate and postgraduate perspectives, what’s next? It’s amazing that we are creating so many future family doctors within our undergraduate program. We know the residents who train at all of our Department’s teaching sites have over-whelming positive feedback and the highest recommendations for students entering the match. Perhaps the piece we are missing is marketing… shameless promotion and bragging about the superb educational experience students will have if they choose Western. They will learn to be competent and prepared family physicians at Western. The faculty we have across the region from Windsor to Grey-Bruce are second to none and combined with some exciting updates to our curriculum based on the Outcomes of Training Curriculum Review process, the education we are able to offer our postgraduate and undergraduate learners will only improve.
If you are considering how to get involved, watch for a call for participation in the undergraduate curriculum coming soon! Our Department is poised to deliver almost 5500 hours of non-clinical teaching within the undergraduate program next year. Opportunities will range from being QI Project mentors to clinical skills teachers to academic coaching to longitudinal clinical experience supervisors. Specific details will be in your inbox soon!
Lastly, I want to highlight a few upcoming events on the horizon. Resident Project Day, the annual showcase of research and quality improvement projects will be held on Wednesday, June 12 from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. A registration email already went out and a reminder email will follow. This is a day that can always provide some insights into QI to consider for your own practice.
Friday, June 21 will be our resident graduation dinner and awards ceremony – in-person for the second year in a row! I would encourage everyone to purchase a ticket and attend to support our 2024 graduates and Department award winners. Watch you email for details.
Finally, please save the date for the 2024 McWhinney Lecture taking place in-person the afternoon of Wednesday, September 18. We are very pleased to have Dr. Lillian Gelberg, Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Department of Health Policy and Management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health delivering the lecture this year. Registration information will be forthcoming.
As always, I appreciate everyone who contributes to our Department of Family Medicine and never hesitate to reach out with comments, questions, concerns, or ideas – smckay28@uwo.ca.
