Intellectual Development

On-Site Block

The Graduate Studies Program is very important to all members of the Department of Family Medicine - it provides an important stimulus and focus for our academic mission and offers a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the development of our discipline around the world. The two-week onsite component of the program provides an important contact between the graduate students and the rest of the Department.

The goals of this two-week period include:

  • to provide students with an overview of the program;
  • to introduce and foster relationships amongst the students enrolled in each course;
  • to introduce students to the faculty and their research interests;
  • to meet with the Director of the Program as well as their Advisor;
  • to introduce students to the appropriate computer technology that is required to participate in the program online.

Advisors & Personal Interviews

Each graduate student is assigned an advisor. The advisor's role is to monitor the progress of the student during his/her academic program, to answer any questions that he/she may have and to support the development of their research proposal. When students have completed their research proposal and it has been reviewed by their advisor, they will submit the proposal to the program Chair who will then, in consultation with the Graduate Studies Committee, identify appropriate supervisory faculty. The students are encouraged to develop their research interests in the multiple areas that coincide with the members of the faculty in the Department of Family Medicine.

Each year during the on-site component, the graduate students will have a personal interview with the program Chair to answer any questions, to identify individual learning objectives, and to make them aware of any of the rules and regulations regarding the Graduate Studies Program. Evaluation of the program by the students is conducted at the completion of their on-site component and at the completion of each of the courses in the program, and this is followed by an exit interview at the completion of the program.