Service-learning Curriculum Design and Implementation at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Community service-learning is an integral component of the undergraduate medical experience, as it provides students with the opportunity to respond to and address societal issues. Students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine have traditionally participated in a service-learning curriculum that required them to choose placement opportunities from a centrally- developed catalogue of options, with no continuity between the university and the community from year to year. The mandatory service-learning placement was re-designed under the advisement of long-standing community partners, community-engaged physicians, and academics. The new model centralizes the relationship between faculty tutors and community partners, who act as co-educators for the medical students, with tutors serving as the primary link to community organizations. The University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine is the first Canadian medical institution to implement this innovative curricular model.