Our COE training program prepares family physicians to provide exemplary care to elderly, frail, and medically complex patients across a wide range of clinical and community-based settings. Residents who complete our program will have community-adaptive competence and be able to provide enhanced care to older adults in their own practice; support other physicians and serve as care of the elderly consultants; and act as leaders in initiatives to improve older adults’ health and quality of life in their communities and beyond.
Residents who complete our program will be able to:
- Provide patient-centered care of the older adult that optimizes their function and/or well-being
- Prevent, diagnose, and manage, common (key) geriatric conditions
- Provide comprehensive medication review to maximize benefit and minimize inappropriate or unnecessary medications, and adverse drug events
- Assist patients and families in clarifying goals of care, making care decisions, and providing informed consent
- Provide palliative and end-of-life care for older adults
- Coordinate healthcare and healthcare transitions for older adults with frailty, multi-morbidity, and multiple providers
- Provide geriatric consultation and co-management
- Collaborate and work effectively as a leader or member of an inter-professional healthcare team
- Advance the quality and safety of health care for the elderly through the application of quality improvement and/or research
- Teach the principles of care of the elderly and aging-related health care issues to health professionals, patients, families, health care providers and others in the community
Residents are encouraged to set personal learning objectives that may include perceived gaps in training or previously identified areas of interest. They will be required to document these objectives on a quarterly basis and for elective rotations, and to review these with their Academic Advisor, Program Director, and preceptors over the course of the year.
By the end of the program, residents will demonstrate competence in knowledge, skills, and attitudes for effective patient-centered care and service to an elderly population, as defined by the College of Family Physicians of Canada’s Priority Topics and Key Features for the Assessment of Competence in Care of the Elderly. Additional CanMEDS-FM competencies required to support the work of all Canadian family physicians are attached to all core rotations and will be assessed over the course of the program as well.