Learner Mistreatment

The Department of Surgery is committed to enabling a positive learning and working environment for everyone in our community. We support a collaborative approach to addressing learner concerns that champions the principles articulated in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine Learner Mistreatment Guideline which describes the steps that will be taken to support learners that witness or experience mistreatment in the following programs:

• MD (all years)
• MD/PhD
• Medical Radiation Sciences
• Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Physician Assistant
• Postgraduate Medical Education including:
  • International Medical Graduates (IMGs), once fully registered following PEAP*
  • Externally sponsored trainees, once fully registered following AVP*
  • Medical Physics Residents
• Speech-Language Pathology

Temerty Medicine has adopted the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) definition for learner mistreatment which refers to intentional or unintentional behaviours that show disrespect for the dignity of others. This may manifest as unprofessional behaviours, discrimination and discriminatory harassment, or sexual violence and sexual harassment. Review and management of disclosures will be informed by the Standards of Professional Values for Clinical (MD) Faculty and the CPSO Professional Responsibilities in Medical Education, among other policies and guidelines.  

Temerty Medicine has established a centralized hub of supports and resources for learners who have witnessed or experienced mistreatment. To learn more about how to discuss, disclose, or report learner mistreatment, you can access resources here: https://meded.temertymedicine.utoronto.ca/learner-mistreatment

These webpages include an online disclosure form through which learners can submit disclosures to the Learner Experience Unit in an identified or anonymous way.

Within our own Department, our education leadership team are also available to support learners in accessing and understanding the supports and resources available. Our leadership team includes:

• Vice Chair of Education: Dr. Najma Ahmed
• Fellowship Director: Dr. Najma Ahmed and each Division has its own Fellowship Director
• Director of Postgraduate Education: Dr. Moji Hodaie
• Director of Undergraduate Education:  Dr. Jory Simpson

We recognize that learners may disclose an incident of alleged mistreatment to departmental / program or hospital leadership including (but not limited to) Site Education Leaders, Chief Residents, or other trusted faculty or peers beyond those listed. When a learner contacts an individual other than staff working in Temerty’s Office of Learner Affairs: Learner Experience Unit, the individual receiving the disclosure should make the learner aware of the Temerty Learner Mistreatment Guideline and:

• Inform the learner that they may contact the Learner Experience Unit (as per above), or
• If proceeding to manage the situation locally, contact the Director of Learner Experience if there are any questions related to how the Learner Mistreatment Guidelines apply in the local management of learner concerns.

We want learners to know that raising concerns has impact. To ensure transparency and accountability, the Learner Experience portfolio publishes an annual report that summarizes the actions that have been taken in response to submissions in an aggregated and de-identified way.

In collaboration with Temerty Medicine, the Department of Surgery monitors trends from learner concerns to identify systems-level interventions in partnership with the clinical departments and placement sites that can be implemented to improve the learning and working climate for us all.

The bottom line is that we are here for you, please reach out anytime!