Medical Student “Early Clinical Experiences” in the Department of Paediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children
Observership and shadowing experiences, termed "Early Clinical Experiences (ECE)," are available to medical students from all years—but primarily intended for preclinical years—within the Department of Paediatrics at The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto. At this time, we are accepting only medical students from Canadian and American schools, and do not have the capacity to accept students studying at international schools. In addition, many divisions within the Department have further restrictions due to availability and are not accepting any students for ECE.
Medical students who are in their final or penultimate year of training should apply for a formal elective experience at The Hospital for Sick Children through the AFMCPortal and click on "University of Toronto".
This program does not apply to students who are not enrolled in a medical school.
The ECE educational experience is governed by the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine guidelines, which are based on the policies set forth by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
The educational experience will follow the principle of delegated and graded responsibility. We recognize that most ECE will be of short duration, and thus the vast majority of these experiences will be observation only.
You will be asked to provide a letter of good standing from your home school. When you arrive, you will be asked to complete an Early Clinical Experiences Student Agreement form.
You may contact the specific division that you are interested in to arrange an ECE via email. Upon the receipt of your application, if an experience is available for the requested dates, the division will assign you to a preceptor. Please see the list below for administrative contact information:
Students may request educational experiences with physicians outside of SickKids and outside of their formal Undergraduate Medical Education Program. Such requests are governed by requirements outlined in the CPSO Policy governing Professional Responsibilities in Undergraduate Medical Education College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and may be limited to observation of clinical care only. These requests are negotiated with the supervising physician directly.
