Issue #5 August 2008

Our Students

Orientation for our fifteen inaugural students took place at McMaster the week of August 25^th, 2008. Karl met the students on the 25^th and talked to them about their Niagara Regional Campus experience. The first months of teaching will take place in Hamilton. Our students will arrive in Niagara on December 8^th. We have planned a number of orientation activities through the fall to introduce our students to the communities and healthcare facilities in Niagara Region.

Human Resources Updates

Four Professional Competency Longitudinal Facilitators have been attending training sessions in Hamilton and are ready to start in September. They will teach our students once a week from the beginning, requiring them to go to Hamilton for the first months.

NHS Pathologists Dr. S. Chawla and Dr. R. Sellers will teach Anatomy in Niagara Falls beginning in December. Anatomists in Hamilton are busy dissecting specimens for our students; the morgue at GNG will undergo minor renovations this fall.

Seven Regional Education Leaders (REL's) have been appointed:

Emergency Dr. R. Setrak

Family Medicine Dr. N. Abram

Medicine Dr. E. Rabin

OB/GYN Dr. A. Dobosiewicz

Orthopedics Dr. R. Josefchak

Psychiatry Dr. I. Naqvi

Surgery Dr. A. Kobylecky

Interviews for the remaining two positions in Anesthesia and Pediatrics take place in September. The REL group will begin regular meetings in October.

Two additional leadership positions, Clinical Education Coordinator and Faculty Development/CME Coordinator will be interviewed in September and October. Details will be sent by email or fax to all physician teachers in the next 2 weeks. These positions will complete the Niagara Regional Campus executive along with Dr. Kathy Swayze, Director of Student Affairs, Dr. Maynard Luterman, Coordinator Pre-Clerkship and Dr. Karl Stobbe, Regional Assistant Dean.

Recruitment of Tutors and Clinical Skills instructors has gone smoothly. An excellent response from physicians around the region will allow us to have enough teachers, with some backup capacity. The first of several monthly training sessions takes place on September 13^th.

Student Advisors have been selected for the first year. Orientation will take place in September.

Faculty Development Workshops

The May 29^th session “Clinical Uncertainly: Friend or Foe?” and “Evaluation of Learners – What is the Yardstick?” was a resounding success with more than 40 attending.

Mark Your Calendar for this Important Topic!

Faculty Development Workshop

October 2^nd at 5:30 pm Four Points by Sheraton

“Professionalism and Harassment Free Environment”

Is it Too Late To Get Involved?

This fall we will be contacting a few more physicians about teaching. If you don’t currently teach, and have not yet informed us that you’d like to, please contact us. We will have a number of new teaching opportunities next year as well.

To Contact the Niagara Regional Campus

Sherry Hinder (905) 378-4647 ext. 43875

Issue #4 May 2008

People

New Faculty Leaders

It is my pleasure to welcome our newest faculty: Dr. Kathy Swayze as our new Director of Student Affairs, and Dr. Maynard Luterman as our Preclerkship Coordinator.

Dr. Swayze is a St. Catharines family doctor with an interest in Sports Medicine and is the Medical Director at Ridley College. Starting July 1^st, she will take responsibility for the non-curricular aspects of our students’ experience. These include medical care, counseling, financial support, career guidance, and learning assistance. In addition she will oversee our Student Advisor program. If you’re interested and haven’t already told us, please let us know if you’d like to participate.

Dr. Luterman is an Emergency Physician in the Niagara Health System with an extensive background in medical leadership, research, occupational health, and business. Starting July 1^st, Dr. Luterman will take responsibility for the classroom phase of our students’ education, which comprises the first 16 months. He will coordinate the locally-taught tutorials, clinical skills, anatomy and professional competencies, and videoconferenced lectures.

New Staff

I am pleased to welcome Sherry Hinder to our team. Sherry started on Apr 14^th and provides much-needed administrative support for the campus. Sherry shares an office with Christine Culhane in our campus wing at the St. Catharines General site.

Get Involved

We have filled our professional competency and anatomy positions for this year. Next we will be selecting student advisors, tutors, and clinical skills preceptors. If you want to participate but haven’t told us yet, please contact our office.

The Student Advisor Program

Students are assigned a faculty member to act as their advisor. The advisor will follow the student’s progress throughout the program and should know the background, special needs and goals of the student. The advisors help to monitor the students’ progress and for this purpose receive copies of all the evaluation forms for their students. Advice is given on the choice of electives, and when required, on possible remedial measures. The advisors often write letters of reference for the students they are advising.

Tutor

Lead the discussion for 7-8 students as they study patient problems which are provided.

Time commitment: two half-days a week for 8 - 13 weeks each year. Sessions take place Monday and Thursday afternoons, or Tuesday and Friday afternoons (the choice is the tutor’s).

Clinical Skills Preceptor

Teach interview and clinical examination skills to 7 - 8 students. It’s ideal (but not necessary) if you have access to patients with pathology.

Time commitment: one half-day a week for 4 - 8 weeks each year. Timing is flexible.

For more information on these roles, or to enquire about other teaching opportunities, please contact Sherry Hinder ext. 43875 who will be happy to direct your call.

Issue #3 Mar 2008

First Annual Day in Faculty Development

First Annual Day in Faculty Development will take place at McMaster in Hamilton on April 30^th from 11:30 am until 6:30 pm. The session includes lunch and Inter-professional Innovations Fair, Interactive Short Sessions (must pre-register) and the 4^th Annual Wong Forum in Medicine with keynote speaker Elizabeth M. Davis, “Teachers in a New Time, Teachers for a New Time”. The Niagara Regional Campus plans to provide transportation to and from the event with beverages and cheese if there is enough interest. Pick up and drop off will be from one pre-determined location. Registration for transportation is on a first come first served basis and is limed to thirty-two registrants.

Human Resources Update

Preclinical

Professional Competencies longitudinal facilitators for our inaugural class have been identified. Faculty development sessions are arranged over the summer. Welcome to Dr. Nancy Abram, Dr. Maria Grande, Dr. John Davis and Barbara Papp, RegN!

Tutors and clinical skills instructors will be identified in May-June with faculty development sessions for these roles in the fall.

Leadership

Ads for campus senior leadership positions; Director of Student Affairs, Faculty Development/CME Coordinator, and Pre-clerkship Coordinator were posted March 13^th, 2008. Selection committees will interview candidates in April; the positions will begin July 1.

Work continues to identify “Regional Education Leaders” (REL). Each REL will work with the Hamilton clerkship coordinator to ensure consistency and quality of the clerkship experience. The chair of the Niagara REL group will join the clerkship committee in Hamilton.

Administration

As the campus continues to evolve a campus administrative assistant will be hired. The Niagara Mac-CARE office functions of placing and orienting learners, and arranging housing for short-term Hamilton-based students will be taken over by the campus in the future.

Postgraduate

Family Medicine continues their efforts to develop a teaching clinic in downtown St. Catharines, backed by the City of St. Catharines and private donors.

Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI)

Several hundred applicants (546 in 2007) will be invited to Hamilton for an interview March 29, 30 and April 5^th. The selection of these applicants is based on the composite score which weights the grade point average from the Academic Assessment, scores from the Autobiographical Submission and, where applicable, graduate degree.

During the MMI, applicants will move between interview "stations" in a 12-station circuit. Each station lasts eight minutes and there is a two minute break between each one. At each station, applicants will interact with, or be observed by, a single rater. The stations deal with a variety of issues, including communication, collaboration, ethics, health policy, critical thinking, awareness of society health issues in Canada and personal qualities. After the interview, applicants will rank McMaster’s 3 campuses. Each successful applicant will be offered admission to one campus.

Issue #2 Feb 2008

Timeline:

15 students per year will start in Sep 2008 in Hamilton and move to Niagara in Dec 2008 for the balance of the program. The inaugural class will begin clerkship in Dec 2009.

Physical Space

A small wing at St. Catharines General Hospital has been redeveloped for the campus. The space contains a lecture room with smart board, 3 tutorial rooms (one with videoconference capability), 5 admin offices, a computer lab, and a lounge.

Human Resources

Of the 533 physicians in Niagara, to date 92 have indicated an interest in participating in the campus. A number of physicians previously unknown to us have come forward, some with previous teaching experience, and some who have been McMaster faculty.

Preclinical

A surprising number of Niagara physicians have expressed interest in being tutors, clinical skills preceptors, professional competencies facilitators, anatomy instructors, and student advisors. Lectures will be videoconferenced from Hamilton initially. Procomp facilitators will be finalized by the end of this week. Tutors and clinical skills instructors will be identified in May-June with faculty development sessions for these roles in the fall.

Clinical

The campus clerkship will begin in Dec 2009. Of the 10 core clerkship rotations, 6 are currently functioning including Medicine, Surgery, Family Medicine, Anesthesia, Orthopedics, and OB-GYN. Planning for the other 4 is ongoing; EM and Pediatrics should begin in 2008, Psychiatry and Geriatrics in 2009.

Leadership

The campus senior leadership will consist of: Regional Assistant Dean, Director of Student Affairs, Faculty Development/CME Coordinator, and Preclerkship Coordinator. Terms of reference are being finalized for these positions, selection committees will interview candidates in April; the positions will begin July 1.

Each clerkship discipline will have a “Regional Education Leader” (REL). Each REL will work with the Hamilton clerkship coordinator to ensure consistency and quality of the clerkship experience. The chair of the Niagara REL group will join the clerkship committee in Hamilton.

Administration

The MD program administrator will be Fran Geikie who has years of experience implementing and running the teaching programs at the Niagara Health System. The Niagara Mac-CARE office functions of placing and orienting learners, and arranging housing for short-term Hamilton-based students will be taken over by the campus in the future.

Postgrad

Family Medicine is working with a group of local family physicians to develop a teaching clinic in downtown St. Catharines, backed by the city and private donors.

Issue #1 Jan 2008

In preparation for the opening of the Niagara Campus this year, I would like to keep everyone informed of plans as they develop. This is the first of a regular series of newsletters, distributed to all teaching physicians, and others who have indicated an interest in our new campus. Please let us know if you do not wish to receive future editions.

Plans to date – a synopsis:

o A campus of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University

o The first class of 15 students will start in September 2008.

o Students will spend 4 months in Hamilton then come to Niagara for the balance of their 3-year program.

o Admissions will follow the McMaster admission procedure to ensure the highest standards. Students will be offered admission to one campus only; based on their preference.

o Our curriculum will be the innovative McMaster program. This means that, unlike traditional schools:

o Students come from all walks of life, not just science programs.

o The education consists of problem-based learning (PBL) in small groups. Lectures are few, and there are no traditional courses such as physiology, histology, microbiology, etc.

o Students will receive early exposure to patients.

o The program encourages and teaches the skills for life-long learning.

o We can expect a high level of interest in Family Medicine among graduates (40%)

o Local doctors will do most of the teaching (via PBL).

o Local doctors will form the campus leadership.

o 6-8 hours of lectures per week will be videoconferenced using new high-resolution equipment to be installed at the St. Catharines General site.

o The anatomy lab will be at the Greater Niagara General site. Anatomy demonstrators will be Dr. Ruth Sellers and Dr. Satish Chawla, pathologists at NHS. Prosected specimens allow students to explore rather than be taught anatomy.

Did you know?

o Applications for our inaugural class have closed – the deadline was Oct 1.

o Admission interviews will take place: Mar 29-Apr 5, 2008 in Hamilton. Your participation would be most welcome; contact us if you’re interested.

o Orientation in Hamilton starts Aug 25, 2008

o Classes in Hamilton start Sep 2, 2008

o Classes in Niagara start Dec 15, 2008

Recent developments

Niagara physician response to the campus has been very positive. Many returned our mail survey; others attended information sessions in December, yet others have contacted me directly. Over 80 physicians have indicated an interest in participating in the program; about double the number we need in the first year.

For the first months of 2008 our priorities are:

o Interviewing and selecting campus senior leaders (3 positions)

o Selecting first-year teaching faculty, These positions are tutors, clinical skills teachers, and professional competency facilitators. All will require training for their roles that will take place in the latter half of 2008.

Contact the McMaster Niagara Regional Campus

Ms. Fran Geikie, who has long been associated with NHS medical teaching programs, has been appointed MD Program Administrator. Please welcome Fran to her new role.