Non-Clinical Electives in Anglophone Settings

Research Project

The research elective is a possibility of a non-clinical elective to work on a research project in progress. This elective must be done in a university affiliated center or a teaching hospital. The supervisor must hold an academic rank within his own Faculty. The research elective must be from 2 weeks to 4 weeks at the most and can be interrupted by the Christmas holiday or the CARMS interviews period.

Note that a student is not allowed to do more than four (4) weeks of non-clinical electives (this includes research) throughout 4^th year.

The Supervisor's Role

The supervisor or delegate will provide direction for you on the project and will be responsible for ensuring that you have a good attendance record and that you complete all assigned work.

The research elective must take place in the same geographical work place of your supervisor. It is also required that you will meet regularly in person with your supervisor.

Application Instructions

After finding a research elective, you must submit a research application form to the Liaison Officer Year 4, either in person, by fax, or by email. The request will then be sent to the Director of Electives for approval.

Research application form (PDF)

Failure to submit a complete application form may result in a refusal of your research elective.

If the research project is a Leadership project, you must only submit a copy of your Leadership Elective Application with the confirmation letter from Dr. Charles Su.

• Supervisor’s confirmation: A confirmation from the supervisor is required for approval of the research elective by signing the appropriate section of the research application form. An email confirmation from your supervisor to the Liaison Officer, Year 4 could also be accepted.
• Application submission date: The application form must be submitted preferably 2 months prior the start of the elective, but at the latest, 1 month could be accepted.
• International research elective: If the research elective is to be done internationally, you must also be pre-approved by the Medical Education Office and Global Health Office once your research elective has been approved by the Director of Electives.
• Clinical Placement account: After submitting your application, you must enter the elective in your Clinical Placement account.

After completion of a research elective, the supervisor must complete your online evaluation, and you must submit:

• a brief (1-2 pages) report describing your experiences;
• a copy of the abstract of the manuscript (if you are a co-author).

The report and the abstract (if applicable) must be returned to the Liaison Officer Year 4 after completion of the elective as soon as possible.

Description:

This elective will enable students to explore the psychosocial aspects of medicine, cultural diversity, the patient-physician relationship, the values of both the caregiver and care receiver while sharpening their critical thinking abilities, their empathy and their self-awareness. Using learning and concepts from history of medicine, arts, literature, philosophy and other humanities students will explore and reflect on important health issues and difficult ethical questions. 

Testimonies: 

“I wish I had done this rotation before my CARMS interviews, it would have been such a good preparation, everybody should take this elective!”

“Medical humanities are a pillar for medical education, as important as the scientific foundations we learned in the past few years.”

“Instructors were involved and passionate. We had serious and deep conversations. They helped me explore medical and philosophical concepts into a depth to a level I had never seen before.”

“Our medical training makes us very unidimensional, this rotation helped us bring forward our humanity. I now realize that patients need to be seen as persons with emotion in order to provide good care.”

“We often talked about the bio-psycho-social aspect, now it has a true meaning!”

Examples of workshops:

• Clinical ethics using cinema and TV series
• Narrative Medicine and journaling
• Uncertainty and medicine
• History of Medicine
• Mindfulness
• Self-portrait
• Complementary Medicine
• Replay theatre

Specific Objectives: 

Over the course of this elective, participants will be able to:

• Engage in critical thinking for a better understanding of complex ethical issues.
• Reflect critically on the roles and responsibilities of the physician in society, as an individual and as a health care provider.
• Improve their observational and listening skills required to practise medicine, using writing as a tool to reflect on their own clinical experiences.
• Respect the perspectives of other disciplines and professions and to recognize their contributions to medicine and health care.

Credits: 

With this elective, students are awarded 40 credits in the Medicine, Ethics and Humanities Program.

Supervisor :  Director of the Medicine, Ethics and Humanities Program

Where: RGN, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa

Length: 2 weeks

Number of students: 10-15 students

Application to the elective: mshamy@toh.ca    When applying for this elective, students will need to send a statement of no more than 200 words explaining why they would like to take this elective, and what they hope to get out of it.

Availability: Offered in French and English (dependant on preceptor availability and number of student requests) to 4th year students February 7th - 20th, 2022. 

Objectives:

• To provide students with essential knowledge and skills in Healthcare Leadership.
• To provide an opportunity for enhanced leadership development through practical application of skills and knowledge.
• To expand students’ network through mentorship and collaboration with physician leaders.

Description: The leadership elective is a longitudinal 4^th year elective aimed to further develop and enhance the leadership knowledge and skills of students with a particular interest and/or aptitude for healthcare leadership. The leadership elective is based upon the five pillars of Leadership in Healthcare as described by Leaders for Life ©, a paradigm also utilized by the CMA. 

Who should apply?

University of Ottawa fourth year medical students:

• With a particular interest in healthcare leadership.
• Who want to build on their leadership knowledge and skills.
• Who want to practically apply their leadership skills and knowledge while networking with experienced physician leaders and mentors.
• Who envision leadership as a core component of their career.
• Prior experience in leadership is not required.

Application process:

The following requirements should be sent with student’s application.

1. Letter demonstrating genuine interest in healthcare leadership
2. CV highlighting relevant leadership experiences
3. Outline of a change management project to be carried out over the student’s 4^th year with an approved supervisor

Location: 

Seminar series will take place in Roger Guindon Hall – Faculty of Medicine (or one of the attached hospitals, based on room availability), University of Ottawa.

Duration:

The LE is a longitudinal elective. Students will take part in workshops over the course of their fourth year. Students will work on their individual change management project with an approved supervisor/mentor throughout the year (September 2021- February 2022). During this time, students may choose any 2 weeks to dedicate to the leadership elective project. However, students should expect that their leadership project will require longitudinal work throughout fourth year. Students will then reconvene for a session at the beginning of Back to Basics during which they will present their leadership projects to their leadership elective peers, supervisors and other healthcare leaders.

Number of students:

Maximum 12 students

Educational Objectives by Content Domain

Domain: Principles of Education and Learning

Goal: Understand the underlying principles of medical education, with an emphasis on educational management principles and learning theory.

Domain: Teaching Methods - These sessions will introduce students to effective techniques and resources available for improving teaching in the clinic, on the ward, and in the lecture hall. Topics include Giving Effective Feedback, and Simulation in Medical Education.

Goal: Participants are going to learn new teaching techniques, with an opportunity to practice them with their peers and junior medical students.

Domain: Educational Research Methodology - Students will be introduced to basic methodology in educational research, with applications and examples taken from healthcare education. Topics include Interpreting a Medical Education article, Publishing and Funding in Healthcare Education.

Goal: Participants are going to learn basic aspects of medical educational research.

Description: The overall goal of the Clinical Teaching Elective is to foster an interest in clinical teaching and academic scholarship in healthcare education. The intent is to introduce students to some theoretical aspects of learning and scholarship interspersed with practical opportunities to demonstrate teaching skills and receive feedback on teaching. The elective is a mix of didactic teaching, peer-assisted learning opportunities, independent assigned readings and student presentations.This two week elective is available to fourth year medical students at the University of Ottawa.

Supervisor: Dr. Karima Khamisa

Location: The elective is considered a non-clinical elective and will be done virtually.

Duration: February 7 - 20, 2022.

Number of students: The elective is limited to 6 students.

Notes: Elective Blueprint

Please note that due to the Covid pandemic the 2020-2021 electives are not offered.

Bilingual Dissection Electives in Human Anatomy

Each academic year, the Division of Anatomy offers up to 5 Dissection Elective opportunities for pre-clerkship medical students. Registered medical students will be assigned into groups (4-6 students/cadaver) and will be assigned a peer teacher (second year medical student). Each elective consists of cadaveric dissection across three afternoon sessions, with students dissecting the regions related to the content being delivered in the curricular laboratories.  Credit for completion of these electives is attendance-based. If one session is missed, students must notify the Anatomy Interest Group at least one day in advance. However, students do have the opportunity to make up for a missed lab by attending a ‘make-up’ laboratory session near the end of the semester. Finally, each elective typically features a formative ‘practice tag’ exam related to the content covered during the elective.

Typical Schedule for Pre-clerkship Dissection Elective Program

Faculty and Instructors:

• Dr. Alireza Jalali, MD, DESMS, LMCC, Head of Anatomy
• Dr. Christopher Ramnanan
• Dr. Nermine Youssef
• Shannon Goodwin

To sign up for Dissection Electives, please contact: The AIG (Anatomy Interest Group) at aig.ottawa@gmail.com.

The schedule will be available after the formation of the groups in each semester. In cases where the number of interested students exceeds capacity, priority will be given to students who have not previously taken any dissection elective to maximize the number of students who can participate in this unique learning activity.
 

Anatomy POCUS Summer Boot Camp

Pre-clerkship Electives (1^st and 2^nd years)

Description: The Division of Clinical and Functional Anatomy is pleased to offer an innovative one-week elective rotation in Anatomy- Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) for pre-clerkship students. The elective will emphasize student-centered, hands-on, small group learning using cadaveric prosections, and will provide a good opportunity for review of clinically relevant anatomy prior to residency. The POCUS sessions will include short lectures from various clinical departments, followed by peer-facilitated, hands-on sessions, in small groups.

Objectives: Over the course of the elective students will be able to: 

• Review the clinically relevant anatomy of the limbs, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and head & neck.

• Explain the basic terminology used in describing US and the clinical importance of POCUS
• Demonstrate and visualize ultrasound appearance of basic anatomical findings in limbs, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and head & neck.

Faculty and Instructors:

• Dr. Alireza Jalali, MD, DESMS, LMCC, Head of Anatomy
• Dr. Christopher Ramnanan
• Dr. Nermine Youssef
• Shannon Goodwin

Location:

AM: Anatomy laboratory at Roger Guindon Hall – Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
PM: PoCUS (History Lab) at Roger Guindon Hall – Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa

Dates:

June 4, 2019 AM Anatomy Lab PM PoCUS (Histology Lab) - Abdomen
June 5, 2019 AM Anatomy Lab PM PoCUS (Histology Lab) - Thorax
June 7, 2019 AM Anatomy Lab PM PoCUS (Histology Lab) - MSK

August 13, 2019  AM Anatomy Lab PM PoCUS (Histology Lab) - Abdomen
August 14, 2019  AM Anatomy Lab PM PoCUS (Histology Lab) - Thorax
August 16, 2019  AM Anatomy Lab PM PoCUS (Histology Lab) - MSK

Number of students: 20

Contact Person to reserve a place: Dr. Nermine Youssef, Email: nyoussef@uottawa.ca, Telephone: 613-562-5800 ext: 8247

Clerkship Elective (Year 4 only)

Description: The Division of Clinical and Functional Anatomy is pleased to offer an innovative one-week elective rotation in Anatomy- Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) for clerkships students. The elective will emphasize student-centered, hands-on, small group learning using cadaveric prosections, and will provide a good opportunity for review of clinically relevant anatomy prior to residency. The POCUS sessions will include short lectures from various clinical departments, followed by peer-facilitated, hands-on sessions, in small groups. Knowledge will be assessed via a cadaveric and image based MCQ test at the end of the week.

Objectives: Over the course of the elective students will be able to:

• Review the clinically relevant anatomy of the limbs, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and head & neck.

• Explain the basic terminology used in describing US and the clinical importance of POCUS
• Demonstrate and visualize ultrasound appearance of basic anatomical findings in limbs, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and head & neck.

Faculty and Instructors:

• Dr. Alireza Jalali, MD, DESMS, LMCC, Head of Anatomy
• Dr. Christopher Ramnanan
• Dr. Nermine Youssef
• Shannon Goodwin

Location: Anatomy laboratory at Roger Guindon Hall – Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa.

Duration: 1 week elective is offered with bilingual instruction 2 times a year to Year 4 students only.

Dates: MD2020 January 13-17, 2020 OR February 24-28, 2020 MD2021 January 4-8, 2021 OR February 22-26, 2021

Number of students: 20 students

Contact Person to reserve a place: Dr. Nermine Youssef, Email: nyoussef@uottawa.ca, Telephone: 613-562-5800 ext: 8247

The CanMEDS 2015 Physician Competency Framework and publications such as “Unmet Needs: Teaching Physicians to Provide Safe Care” and the Institute for Health Improvement's “Approaches to Training Faculty at Academic Medical Centers to Ensure That Clinical Trainees Become Effective Improvers: IHI 90-Day R&D Final Summary Report” advocate that medical education curricula should include PS and QI content, starting at the undergraduate level, and that this content should be woven throughout training, at every opportunity including at the bedside, rather than only be delivered as episodic standalone, didactic sessions. We propose that a clerkship elective experience would be one approach to further this aim of delivering a longitudinal theme of PS and QI in undergraduate medical education at the University of Ottawa.

Benefits for the interested student undertaking this elective:

1. To experience an elective opportunity which would be personalized to the interests and needs of the student, and flexible in scheduling to accommodate other interests and obligations.

2. To enable the acquisition of a significant understanding in PS and QI that would be relevant to any future career path in medicine.

3. To participate in a PS or QI research/initiative/project, that reflects the interests of the student.

4. To develop Scholar competencies, including performing literature review, undertaking data entry and interpretation, manuscript preparation, and presenting to an audience. Attending and presenting at a PS conference/meeting is strongly encouraged to gain experience in presentation and networking.

5. To develop Collaborator competencies and communication & leadership skills, as research and educational projects require a team approach.

6. To receive high level of teaching and mentorship from committed clinician-teachers with formal PS and QI backgrounds, enabling the opportunity to review and consolidate learning that the student has undertaken through reading and online modules.

Objectives

· To acquire a foundational knowledge of patient safety (PS) and quality improvement (QI) principles and practices.

· To describe some of the landmark publications and key white papers/position papers in PS.

· To develop effective communication and presentation skills through peer-to-peer teaching and presentation opportunities.

· Ideally, to participate in a PS or QI research project or initiative, leading to presentation locally and potentially nationally.

Supervisors: Dr. Amy Nakajima and Dr. Sherissa Microys

Location: Any healthcare facility in Ottawa which is affiliated with the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine.