- Degree Division
- Clinical Public Health Division
- Program Contact
- Melissa Graham
Program Description
Around the world, Family Medicine is becoming increasingly recognized as an academic discipline with its own unique collection of knowledge, skills and attitudes. The University of Toronto’s MScCH (FCM) is a unique and rigorous professional graduate studies degree intended to strengthen the practice of family medicine and primary care by developing leadership, teaching and research skills of the practitioners.
A notable strength of the program is that the practicum requirements allow for experiential learning and reinforce the theoretical principles learned in many of the courses.
Participants in the program hail from many different parts of the world, contributing to a unique and stimulating venue for learning and collaboration. The longitudinal nature of the program allows participants to develop rich professional networks with their colleagues.
The MScCH curriculum is designed for practicing health professionals who are or can reasonably expect to become teachers and leaders in their professional fields. Graduates of our programs have often gone on to hold high-level hospital and/or university appointments at their home institutions which reflects the sustainability of the knowledge, skills and attitudes developed in the Family Medicine Masters programs.
If you have any questions or would like further information about this program, please contact familymed.grad@utoronto.ca.
Target Audience
The Family and Community Medicine field of the MScCH is intended for licensed and regulated primary care clinicians currently working in their field. This program is not intended to assist applicants in becoming licensed health practitioners in Canada.
Program Goals
To prepare prospective faculty, entry level faculty as well as experienced academic health professionals to become more effective and scholarly leaders of academic family medicine and primary care.
Program Objectives
Graduates will:
- Understand social, political and scientific forces that influence the health care system and the delivery of primary health care;
- Understand how individual and family dynamics affect the health of a population;
- Gain a basic understanding of public health principles and health policy;
- Effectively apply the principles of adult education when teaching in a classroom or a clinical setting;
- Design effective and innovative inter-professional educational programs in a scholarly manner;
- Understand research methods, basic statistical techniques and how best to apply them to the primary care clinical setting; and
- Understand the principles of leadership and management as they related to the health care setting.
Admission Requirements
MScCH students are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) and should hold an appropriate bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from a recognized university with at least a mid-B average in final year of the degree, or in the last 5.0 full course equivalents completed at a senior level. Proof of English Language Proficiency is required (See below).
Minimum Admission Requirements for MScCH Family and Community Medicine
- Relevant academic preparation and professional experience as a public health, community, or clinical practitioner.
- Certification/licensure in a regulated health profession is required
International applicants
No applicant will be admitted without evidence of English Language Proficiency (ELP). As per the policy of the School of Graduate Studies (SGS), the following applicants do not have to provide direct supporting evidence of ELP in the application.
- A Canadian citizen who studied at a Canadian university where instruction is in English or French;
- Any applicant who has obtained a qualifying undergraduate degree from an institution that is recognized by the University of Toronto, and where the language of instruction and examination is uniformly English.
If either criterion above is satisfied, the application can be submitted without test scores or other proof of ELP. The ELP requirement will be waived, in the online system, when the application is reviewed.
Otherwise, an approved test of English Language Proficiency must be submitted at the time of application. Scores must meet the minimum requirements set by SGS and must be valid (taken within 2 years of submission of the application). See SGS website for details.
The MScCH Family and Community Medicine program does not make other exemptions. If an applicant is required to submit proof of ELP and does not include this with the application, by the application deadline, the application will be rejected as incomplete and inadmissible.
Applicants who studied outside Canada must consult the School of Graduate Studies website to determine whether evidence of ELP can be waived. The SGS website lists those countries where university instruction in English will be recognized without further documentation. Click here for more information.
The SGS website also has an international degree equivalency tool that may be consulted to determine minimum admission requirements for graduates from recognized institutions outside Canada. Admission eligibility cannot be determined until a complete application is submitted. We are not able to review or assess your academic record without an official application to a graduate degree program, including payment of the appropriate application fee.
Program Requirements
The MScCH degree requires the completion of 5.0 full course credit equivalents (FCE) including required courses, a supervised field placement or practicum in which learners can apply their new skills and record and reflect upon their experiences, and elective course(s). Many of the courses in the program combine a brief period (usually one week) of intensive “on campus” classroom activities, followed by an extended “off campus” study period and then concluded with another intensive “on campus” block. Other courses may run in the more traditional longitudinal 13-week semester format. The practica (0.5 FCE each) may run concurrently with the formal course work. The MScCH may be completed within 12 consecutive months (full time), or learners can take up to 6 years to complete the degree on a part-time basis. A full time student would need to commit to a total of 8-14 weeks, full-time, on-campus class attendance plus 160-320 practicum hours of supervised field work.
Required Courses (3.5 FCE)
Elective Courses (1.5 FCE)
| CHL5691H: MScCH Optional Practicum | 0.5 |
| Elective Courses | 1.0-1.5 |
Electives
Students are encouraged to take elective courses that will enhance their learning experience and/or provide focused study on a particular topic. Please check the DLSPH timetable for a list of courses available each academic year.
If you have any questions about the appropriateness of a course, please speak with the Program Director for MScCH: Family and Community Medicine.