Canadian Observership Program
Empowering Global Healthcare Professionals with Canadian Expertise
Residents - Medical students/Graduates - Interns - IMG - Nurses/ Nurse practitioners
OUR Observership Program
A medical educational opportunity for medical graduates, nurse practitioners, IMG, Nurses, or medical students to gain invaluable experience and familiarity in a Canadian clinical setting. This experience introduces applicants to Canada’s health care system and provides exposure to the day to day routines, roles and responsibilities in Family Medicine and, Pediatric Medicine.
It will offer practical experience regarding Routine and Urgent Care as well as greater knowledge and understanding of the clinical aspect of medicine, under the supervision of a licensed Canadian physician. During your time at our affiliate facilities, you may have the opportunity to observe treatment, hear doctor/ parent discussions, and you may have access to patient charts. You must understand that you have the responsibility to observe all legal aspects of patient/parent confidentiality. This includes all you see, hear or do. Hopefully, you will find your time with us educational and useful.
DISCIPLINES
FAMILY MEDICINE
PEDIATRICS
PSYCHIATRY
INTERNALMEDICINE
Testimonials & Reviews
I've participated in a 3 months observership that allowed me to learn and observe patient-physician interaction from many different paediatricians in both the Milton and the Duke of York Paediatric clinics. Aside from observing and assisting physicians in all their consultations, I was tasked with beginning the consultation by gathering relevant medical history (including past medical and surgical history, medications, allergies, vaccination history) and collecting pertinent information regarding patient's chief complaint.
After a short debrief with the supervising physician and a discussion over differential diagnosis, management and treatment plan, I resumed the consultation with the supervising physician to observe and assist during the physical exam. I also was responsible to write clear and succinct consultation notes in patient's EMR that was then corrected by the supervising physician.
My learning experience was further expanded to include telemedicine consultations as well. I’d coordinate consultations between physicians and patients and ensured patients gave their written consent prior to their consult. I also conducted a brief assessment that I documented in the patient’s chart.
During my observership, I was exposed to a variety of paediatric cases, from newborn jaundice and initial assessments to immunizations and live applications of the Rourke score, rash differentials, AOM vs otitis external, UTI's and management of severe gastroenteritis, etc. The list is far from exhaustive.
Overall this was a very rich learning experience that allowed me to apply my theoretical medical knowledge and to gain valuable Canadian experience. The ability to work with different paediatricians, each with their own teaching style has been highly beneficial to my learning.
This observership has certainly expanded my understanding of the CanMed roles as well as given me the opportunity to explore the Canadian health system in a supervised and safe manner. At the end of my observership, and after being satisfied by my performance the Medical Director wrote me a reference letter. I am sure this letter played a pivotal role in ensuring my successful match this year.
Leila B
Testimonials & Reviews
"I had a very pleasant experience during my 3-month rotation at Duke of York Pediatrics in Mississauga and Oakville. While working here I gained incredible outpatient experience and hands-on practical skills including assessing vitals, performing rapid strep tests and urine dipstick testing, physical examinations, and vaccine administration. I was also able to improve my history taking, documentation using SOAP notes, and charting. The exposure to a wide variety of common outpatient presentations including fever, conjunctivitis, allergies, jaundice, skin conditions, upper respiratory infections, ear infections, UTI's, asthma, constipation/diarrhea, abdominal pain. injuries, joint pain built my confidence in the approach and management to each issue."
Khrystyna M
Testimonials & Reviews
I completed a 250-hour rotation at the Children’s Urgent Care Clinic (3 locations- Etobicoke, Mississauga and Oakville) from January 2021-March 2021. All clinic locations offer well baby checks and routine care, as well as walk-in assessments for individuals aged 0-18 years. This placement enabled me to learn a lot about normal child growth and development, as well as common pediatric primary health care concerns such as fever, abdominal pain, rashes, and more. Even in the midst of a pandemic, the patient volume was steady. On an average shift, I would see 2-4 patients per hour. The clinic also has a virtual platform that allowed me to practice telemedicine care. Even though I came into this placement with previous pediatric experience, I still learned so much. Overall, I found the rotation to be an excellent opportunity to hone my assessment, diagnosis and management skills. The clinic is open 7 days a week, which made it easy to complete my hours in a timely manner. I was precepted by two pediatricians (Dr. Mansour and Dr. Ajanaku), who were both welcoming and very knowledgeable. They took their time to explain concepts to me and provided me with resources that promote best practice. This included identifying when a consultation or referral was necessary to ensure safe, competent, and comprehensive client care. The other pediatricians were kind and approachable as well, and the electronic documentation system was very easy to use. I would recommend this placement for any Nurse Practitioner or Medical Student that is interested in learning more about pediatrics.
Elizabeth P., RN, Year 2 MN-NP Program Student, University of Toronto.
Pediatric Rotation Summary
"My rotation at Pediatric Urgent Care, under the supervision of Dr. Mansour, has been instrumental in building skills, knowledge, and confidence in caring for pediatric populations. After an intense training experience, with over 250 patient encounters and over 140 hours spent under the supervision of five physicians, I have developed a reliable system for interviewing patients and feel more at ease in front of the child and the parent.
Through Dr. Mansour’s maintenance of standards and high expectations throughout the day and in every patient encounter, I have also developed my skill of presenting cases and writing patient notes in the EMR, in an efficient and timely manner."
