I was referred to the program via the UofT Family Medicine enhanced skills hospitalist medicine program director. I applied to this program to enhance my skills in complex and acute care in a downtown urban environment. ... Regardless, the advanced skills learned here will benefit all my patients.
Dr. Reuven Stott, Current Fellow
I feel privileged to be able to work and learn from world experts in an internationally renowned institute. In the short time I have been here, I have developed close friendships with my co-fellows and colleagues. The hospitalist staffs have also been amazing mentors both in a personal and clinical setting.
Dr. Siobhan McCurdie, Current Fellow
The program supported and continues to advocate for me, even after graduating! I received a hospitalist offer for every position I applied for and couldn't be more grateful. I am also a more confident and stronger hospitalist for having gone through the program. I would recommend it for any resident seeking extra training in internal medicine. The program challenges you medically while also being supportive.
Dr. Sami Samain, Previous Fellow
This is a high volume program, where you are exposed to a large number of patients with various conditions. The fact that we rotate in 3 different sites is an amazing opportunity to see patients with different complexity levels. But the medical management of complex patients was just a small part of what this fellowship is about. Every morning we have the opportunity to participate in the multidisciplinary rounds and work closely with the allied health team in the comprehensive care plan and discharge planning. Understanding and participating in this process is extremely valuable to provide the best possible care for patients.
Marina Moura Fernandes Pereira, Previous Fellow
The program gave me the confidence to deal with high acuity admissions including patients requiring mechanical ventilation and dialysis. I was also given a significantly larger quantity of patients than I had been used to as a resident, this improved my time management skills as well as taught me how to deal with multiple patients issues concurrently. These skills were highly valuable when transitioning from a student to a staff physician.
Dr. Darren Rich, Previous Fellow
Hospital Medicine Program has brought me an opportunity to gain experience in the Canadian health care system, it brought me an internal medicine residency training match to University of Saskatoon through CARMS, and eventually lead to my Geriatric Medicine training at UBC, which is absolutely all I wanted. Currently I am working as a geriatrician in BC and happy as can be!
Katalin Balogh, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Previous Fellow
The program also provided me the opportunity to flourish academically over the year of fellowship through involvement in several research projects in a host of different fields, ranging from patient safety and QI to appropriateness studies. Moreover, the mentorship that I received while working as a fellow allowed me to develop competency in evidence-based medicine, which I incorporated into my practice. Lastly, the enthusiasm shared by my mentors at the Hospital Medicine Program was proven to be infectious, and I started my residency in Internal Medicine after a year of fellowship.
Nasrin Safavi, Previous Fellow
The best thing about this Fellowship is that it is well designed, provided trainee an excellent clinical exposure in university of Toronto academic hospitals parallel with the mainstream general internal medicine trainees. I personally gained enormous amount of knowledge and skill during my training period.
Dr. Arupava Chowdhury, Previous Fellow
The program gave me an introduction to the system and community standard of practice in Toronto. I became familiar with the resources available, the limitations we work within, and the completely different reimbursement system. I also fell in love with working in an academic setting – teaching residents and being constantly stimulated by the learning atmosphere.
Dr. David Hwang, Previous Fellow
When I started my career at Niagara Health System as acute care hospitalist, it felt a very smooth transition into independent practice. I highly recommend this program to physicians who are planning to provide inpatient care.
Reza Salarinejad, MD, CCFP, Previous Fellow
The program helped broaden my knowledge base and trained me to be an efficient Hospitalist.
Dr. Naomi Cherian, Previous Fellow
UHN is a great institution, known worldwide. ... It was an opportunity to access the Canadian Health System, I got acquainted with the practice, culture, resources and diverse populations of patients and conditions.
Dr. Dina Khalaf, Previous Fellow
Dr. Reuven Stott
I was referred to the program via the UofT Family Medicine enhanced skills hospitalist medicine program director.
I applied to this program to enhance my skills in complex and acute care in a downtown urban environment.
Prior to applying to this program, I trained in a three year residency at Mount Sinai Hospital Residency in Urban Family Medicine, New York City. Furthermore, I acted as Chief resident of my program from 2017–2018.
It is a great transition to understanding the Canadian healthcare system so far. Likely will benefit me in the future to access hospitalist positions either in a FM teaching position; rural medicine and/or inpatient addiction medicine. Regardless, the advanced skills learned here will benefit all my patients.
Dr. Siobhan McCurdie
I first heard about the International Hospitalist fellowship program from a friend who rotated through the hospitalist team as an Orthopaedic resident at Mount Sinai.
I am a qualified family doctor in the UK and was looking to move to Canada. I was interested in the fellowship as it combined my interest in family medicine and inpatient hospital medicine. It is not a specialty that currently exists in the UK and I was interested to learn about its role within a healthcare system. I was privileged to spend a week as an observer with Dr. Bonta at TGH, which only enhanced my interest in the program. I was also fortunate to be able to secure a 2-year working visa via the international experience Canada (IEC) program which made me eligible for application.
I am a certified GP in the UK (MRCGP) who completed family resident training in London, England (2018). I also completed the MCCEE in order to apply for a CPSO license.
I am looking to settle in Canada and have a practice that combines hospitalist medicine and family practice. This program will give me invaluable experience and insight into the nuances of the Canadian healthcare system and medical practices. I feel privileged to be able to work and learn from world experts in an internationally renowned institute. In the short time I have been here, I have developed close friendships with my co-fellows and colleagues. The hospitalist staffs have also been amazing mentors both in a personal and clinical setting.
Dr. Sami Samain
My reflections with regards to the UHN hospitalist program have been nothing but positive. The program as a whole is demanding in part because of the complexity of patients you encounter at Toronto General. It was a little intimidating at first, but I had a good support structure which allowed me to grow and be more comfortable as a Hospitalist. The staffs are helpful and accommodating to concerns that may come up. Ultimately, it has helped me land multiple job interviews and subsequently paved the way for my future. For that I’ll be forever indebted. It’s a lot of work, but worth it.
I learned about the program through a colleague at my American Family Medicine residency program. This program offered a transition into Canadian health care and working at Toronto General Hospital that has a wide array of complex medical conditions. Ultimately I wanted to have some Canadian experience prior to applying for hospitalist positions. I knew that if I excelled in this program, it would open up doors for me. Prior to applying this program, I completed a American Family Medicine Residency program with a route specialized in hospitalist medicine.
The program supported and continues to advocate for me, even after graduating! I received a hospitalist offer for every position I applied for and couldn't be more grateful. I am also a more confident and stronger hospitalist for having gone through the program. I would recommend it for any resident seeking extra training in internal medicine. The program challenges you medically while also being supportive.
Marina Moura Fernandes Pereira
The UHN/MSH fellowship program was a great professional experience as well as a great environment to be in. I truly enjoyed my year. This is a high volume program, where you are exposed to a large number of patients with various conditions. The fact that we rotate in 3 different sites is an amazing opportunity to see patients with different complexity levels. But the medical management of complex patients was just a small part of what this fellowship is about. Every morning we have the opportunity to participate in the multidisciplinary rounds and work closely with the allied health team in the comprehensive care plan and discharge planning. Understanding and participating in this process is extremely valuable to provide the best possible care for patients.
Another very important factor in my overall experience was the human factor. As a newcomer to Canada and to the healthcare system, I was really surprised to see how supportive everyone was. From the fellowship coordinators and Hospitalist staff, to the nurses on the ward and specially the allied health team, I got all the help I needed and more. Everyone was kind, understanding and happy to answer my questions. This not only made my days better, but significantly enhanced the learning experience.
This fellowship can be intense in workload and responsibilities, but the learning and personal growths follow the same proportion.
I heard about this program through the University of Toronto website. I did my residency in Internal Medicine and specialization in Palliative Care in Brazil. I applied to this program because of the following reasons: I love to work with complex medical inpatients while supported by the allied health team. I wanted to transition from working in the emergency department to working on the wards. I wanted to transition from working as a physician in Brazil to Canada, which at that time seemed like a distant dream.
The fellowship introduced me to the Canadian healthcare system. I learned how to navigate the system and facilitate transitions of care. I was able to feel comfortable managing the inpatients, from admission to discharge, no matter how complex the case was. And finally, all this experience contributed to my official transition from practicing in Brazil to being accepted into residency in Canada.
Nasrin Safavi
I heard initially about the Hospital Medicine through my friends. However later, after my initial introduction to the program, I got the opportunity to talk in details with the program director, different attending staffs and former graduated fellows. I found the program extremely well managed, supportive and welcoming. I felt the program would fulfill all of my goals and I would be able to apply my knowledge and training into the program as a new internationally graduated Internist/Cardiologist.
My experience as a Hospital Medicine Fellow provided first hand exposure and a better understanding of the Canadian medical system. In that role, I was exposed to a different patient population then what I experienced during my medical training in Iran, and this allowed me to further develop my skill set specific to Internal Medicine. Patients admitted to the hospital these days are older, have myriad comorbid conditions, and routinely require coordinated care from a multidisciplinary health care team. I believe that the program gave me opportunity to improve my clinical judgement, communication skills and collaborative ability to provide outstanding care to this population of patients.
The program also provided me the opportunity to flourish academically over the year of fellowship through involvement in several research projects in a host of different fields, ranging from patient safety and QI to appropriateness studies. Moreover, the mentorship that I received while working as a fellow allowed me to develop competency in evidence-based medicine, which I incorporated into my practice. Lastly, the enthusiasm shared by my mentors at the Hospital Medicine Program was proven to be infectious, and I started my residency in Internal Medicine after a year of fellowship.
At the end, I would like to say a big thank you to the group of hospital Medicine which allowed me to be a part of the University of Toronto and made me to feel the university as my home and a center which I have always come back if I face any challenges.
