Teaching Opportunities


Why do we need clinical faculty?

The Island Medical Program (IMP) needs clinical faculty, both physicians and health professionals, to train our medical students. With your leadership and support, we hope to inspire these future doctors to eventually practice in BC, especially in rural, remote, and northern communities, where healthcare needs are most acute.


Why teach with the IMP?

Most health professionals can teach, and they do so for many reasons:

  • They enjoy working with and teaching enthusiastic students.
  • They feel it’s important to showcase their discipline and community.
  • They find education adds to their day-to-day clinical work and helps to keep them up-to-date.

We give our students the facts, but they also need real-world experience. This is critical, and they can only learn that from you — a practicing physician, healthcare provider, or educator.


How can I teach with the IMP?

To teach with the IMP, you must first hold a UBC clinical faculty appointment. Visit our Become Clinical Faculty page to learn more.

Once you hold an appointment, you’re eligible to teach. Check out the opportunities below, then fill out our five-minute questionnaire.

If you have any questions, please email impfac@uvic.ca.

Case-Based Learning (CBL) Tutor

CBL is a small, eight-student group discussion environment with Year 1 and 2 students to help facilitate the development of clinical reasoning and decision-making. These sessions integrate foundational science concepts with the clinical curriculum, providing a structured environment for development of cognitive skills.

Cases increase in complexity over time, allowing students the opportunity to critically think about information presented each week and identify key case points. Tutors receive a tutor guide and participate in pre/post CBL meetings, which results in very little need for advanced preparation.

Commitment: Four to five weeks per cluster, four to six hours per week (depending on year of study).


Family Practice Preceptor

This experience is scheduled in a comprehensive family practice office, allowing development of clinical knowledge and skills in a clinical setting with real patients, prior to entering clinical clerkship.

Students learn the principles of family medicine and enhance interviewing and physical exam skills under the supervision of a family physician. Over time, students will begin to understand the process of arriving at a diagnosis and formulating a treatment plan.

Commitment: Up to six two-hour sessions per semester, plus feedback; Tues-Fri mornings or afternoons.


First Patient Program Preceptor

The First Patient Program (FPP) runs from January to December each year.

Based on a successful model at Queens University, the program has been developed to meet many of the UBC MD Undergraduate Program objectives and to provide a longitudinal clinical educational experience for students.

In the FPP, two students are paired with a volunteer patient who has a chronic illness and the patient’s primary physician. Students will learn firsthand from their patient what it is like to live with a chronic illness as they join the patient for eleven months of their health care journey. They will experience what it is like to navigate the health care system from the patient’s perspective. Physicians will be required to witness history reporting, provide further insight into patient’s condition from care provider perspective, and review student reflection reports on the process.

Commitment: two to three one-hour sessions over one year.


Seminar or Workshop Leader

Facilitate small group seminars and workshops, such as Concussion or ECG Workshop.

Commitment: One two- to three-hour session.


Clinical Skills Tutor

Tutor a small student group to demonstrate a clinical skill in a range of disciplines with a volunteer patient.

Commitment: Session length varies depending on content taught. Typically two to four hours; Tues-Fri afternoons at Royal Jubilee Hospital.

Workshop Leader for Preparation for Medicine Course

Put your name forth to facilitate small group seminars and workshops for our exiting Year 4 students.

Commitment: These sessions are usually 2-3 hours and occur during the late winter months.


Rural Family Practice Preceptor

Introduces students to a family physician, or team of family physicians, practicing in a rural community. It gives students an understanding of the total health care of individuals and their community, including the philosophy of medical care that looks after patients from birth to death and from home to hospital and back home. The focus is on students participating in the active delivery of care in a clinic (vs. a hospital) where they can apply their learnings and discover what more they need to learn.

Commitment: three-and-a-half days per week over a four-week rotation.


Electives

During fourth year, students participate in senior clinical training opportunities in a variety of disciplines under the guidance of a family or specialty preceptor.

Commitment: three-and-a-half days per week over a four-week rotation.


Clerkship

This twelve-month course provides students with core experiences across the breadth of medicine through both clinical and academic learning opportunities. Students will interact with patients under the supervision of faculty members in order to develop a solid foundation of knowledge, skills, and abilities described by the UBC exit competencies. Clinical activities will occur in ambulatory, hospital-based, rural/remote settings, and specialist clinics.

The course is divided into four twelve-week blocks covering the following disciplines:

  • Women’s and Children’s Health: Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology
  • Surgical and Perioperative Care: Surgery, Orthopedics, Anesthesia
  • Brain and Body: Internal Medicine, Psychiatry
  • Ambulatory Care: Emergency Medicine, Family Practice, and Ambulatory Care (e.g., Internal Medicine, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Geriatrics, Palliative Care)

There is also an Integrated Community Clerkship stream for selected students who will cover the same learning outcomes and assessments in a longitudinal structure.

Portfolio Coach

Facilitate collaborative learning by sharing information and experiences on topics of inquiry with a group of eight students.

Commitment: Three coach training sessions, one-and-a-half hours each, plus six hours per year of face-to-face meetings. Provide online feedback of narrative reflections.


OSCE Examiner

Be an examiner for the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).

Commitment: About six hours on a weekend day throughout the year. Faculty development is provided.


FLEX Advisor

The Flexible Enhanced Learning (FLEX) course is new, with an increased focus on scholarship and flexible opportunities for students to pursue various activities over their four years of medical school.

Commitment: Advisors guide a group of eight students through this process on Mondays in face-to-face meetings and through online feedback.


FLEX Activity Supervisor

Supervise, mentor, and provide feedback to a student in a scholarly activity in an area of mutual interest.

Commitment: Varies depending on project or deliverable negotiated.