Program Objective
Stepping Stones: Foundations in Education is our foundational program at the Centre for Faculty Development (CFD). It provides support to health professionals in their multiple education roles and activities including teaching, education scholarship, advocacy and academic leadership. This introductory level program is aligned with other CFD programming which provides more advanced content in the same areas.
Program Description
Stepping Stones: Foundations in Education is a two year program consisting of both workshops and a journal club. Program goals are:
- To promote growth and development of individuals in relation to their educational roles; and,
- To provide opportunities for educational networking and collaboration across caring and learning environments.
Workshops are offered on a variety of topics related to the roles and activities Stepping Stones supports – teaching, education scholarship, advocacy and academic leadership. Examples of topics include: clinical teaching, workplace based assessment, learning theories, curriculum development, mentorship, evaluation, equity and wellness. Stepping Stones follows a flexible, adaptive curriculum and participants choose to attend workshops that meet their needs and interests.
Journal club takes place once a month during Year 1 of the program. Journal club facilitates the integration of workshop content, the broader health professions education literature, and participants’ own education practice.
Program Structure
A new cohort of Stepping Stones: Foundations in Education participants begins every September. After you begin the program, you must complete the following requirements within two academic years.
1. Completion of 9 Workshops
To complete the workshop requirement, you must attend a minimum of 9 workshops within two academic years. Workshops are 3 hours in length, and are offered both in person and over Zoom. A list of Stepping Stones Stepping Stones topics offered during the two year program are listed here. We continually update this list in response to participant needs and environmental shifts. There are no mandatory workshops; participants are able to choose topics that best suit their interests and needs.
Specific workshops are advertised and available for registration on a per term basis: October – December, January – March, April – June. Please click here to see current workshops offered this term.
**Please note: All workshops in the 2022-2023 academic year will be held virtually.
2. Completion of Journal Club
You must complete the journal club requirement in the first year of the program. Journal Club is held virtually and runs monthly from September to June, historically from 530pm-730pm. You must attend 8 of the 10 sessions and complete 2 assignments in order to complete the Journal Club requirement.
Upon completion of the program requirements, you receive a Stepping Stones certificate issued by the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Office.
Accreditation Details
- Certificate of Completion in Continuing Professional Development: 43.0 hours
The 2023-2024 Centre for Faculty Development Workshop Series has been accredited for up to:
- 63 College of Family Physicians of Canada Mainpro+ credits (Group Learning)
- 63 Royal College Maintenance of Certification – Section 1 hours
The 2023-2024 Stepping Stones: Journal Club has been accredited for up to:
- 20 College of Family Physicians of Canada Mainpro+ credits
- 20 Royal College Maintenance of Certification – Section 1 hours
Review complete accreditation details.
Program Team
Lindsay Baker is the Associate Director, Curriculum Integration and Partnerships at the Centre for Faculty Development. Her work focuses on the purposeful integration of her curriculum development, teaching and qualitative research expertise to develop ethical, competent, and compassionate faculty. At an overarching level, her research uses constructivist and critical approaches to examine the boundaries and relations between disciplines, professions, and knowledge communities. Similarly, she integrates constructivist, transformative, and critical pedagogical approaches to education in my faculty development practice. She recognizes the importance of valuing multiple forms of knowledge and ways of knowing and understanding and try to weave this philosophy through her work.
Sarina is the coordinator for the Stepping Stones program at the Centre for Faculty Development. They started this role after they completed their Master of Education at OISE, specializing in Adult Education and Community Development. Sarina takes care of most of the coordination of Stepping Stones, from booking every workshop, to ensuring participants have everything they need to succeed within the program. In addition to handling the coordination of the program She also works with Lindsay to develop curriculum that addresses current health profession education topics and issues and other participant needs.
Meredith Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Teaching Stream within the Physical Therapy Department at the University of Toronto and teaches in the neurological curriculum of the Master of Science in Physical Therapy (MScPT) program. She also is the Physiotherapy Academic Clinical Educator and Program Education Lead at Toronto Rehabilitation/University Health Network. In addition, she continues to practice clinically at Balance Physiotherapy. Meredith has also been involved in research related to racism and oppression. She is a graduate of the MScPT program at the University of Toronto and holds a Bachelors in Physiology from Michigan State University.
Sanne Kaas-Mason is an interprofessional educator whose research interests focus on the various ways that healthcare practitioners engage in interdependent work. She is interested in the spectrum of relatively stable or fluid ways that constellations of collaboration show up across healthcare spaces, and how these impact the delivery of care. This includes interprofessional ways of collaborating. She also explores how entrenched distributions of power, along with siloed understandings of illness and care, might influence collaborative practices of healthcare practitioners.
Tova has been working as a registered dietitian at St. Michael's hospital in acute care and critical care for the past 15 years. In addition to her clinical role, Tova has been teaching at George Brown College and Ryerson University at both the undergraduate and graduate level, supporting various future health professionals in their learning. Tova's clinical interests include gender sensitivity and inclusivity as well as clinical mentorship.
Stephanie Sliekers (she/her), MEd, is the Manager, Simulation and Digital Innovation at Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She is a leader and health professions educator focused on using simulation education and digital learning to create a more equitable and accessible mental health care system. As a Master’s student, Stephanie’s research focused on continuing education in the health professions. Her major research paper, “Written Assessments in Continuing Education: Examining the Tension between Constructivist Learning and Logical Positivist Evaluation,” was a driving factor in focusing her career on simulation and innovation in health care education. In her current role at CAMH, she manages Canada’s first Simulation Centre at a mental health hospital. She oversees CAMH Education’s digital innovation team, who develop and disseminate digital mental health education products, including online courses and podcasts. She brings to her work expertise in adult learning, education theory, instructional design, digital user experience/design, project management, and co-creation and co-design.
CFD Membership
All Stepping Stones: Foundations in Education participants will be automatically enrolled as a CFD General Member for the academic year(s) you are in the program and in the academic year following completion of the program.
Contact
Lindsay Baker
Program Lead
lindsay.baker@unityhealth.to
Sarina Iannelli
Education Coordinator
sarina.iannelli@unityhealth.to
Prerequisites: None
Who should register: Open to all health professions educators.
Format: Virtual with in-person components (hybrid)
Program length: 1-2 years
Cohort size: 30 participants
Upcoming Dates: New cohort starts every September
Fees:
Non-member rate: $1100
Member rate: $900
Student/Fellow/Senior trainee rate: $500
Please note: Fee covers both workshop and journal club components.
Certificate: Participants will receive a certificate issued by the University of Toronto, Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s Continuing Professional Development Office upon success completion of the program.
Share this Program
Upcoming Events
-
5DecThis workshop provides participants with the opportunity to reflect on both providing feedback from the teacher’s perspective and receiving feedback from the learner’s perspective. We will compare and contrast different “conversational choices” available to educators as part of their learning conversations. -
12DecChange in the complex environment of academic health sciences has always required meaningful engagement of multiple perspectives. In this session, Cate Creede-Desmarais will share insights from more than two decades of leading strategic change initiatives in health and higher education, and will provide an overview of a simple approach to change that integrates the evolution of change theory over the past century. -
12JanUtilizing short didactic presentations, group discussions, small group activities as well as case scenarios, this highly interactive workshop will provide an overview of the role, scope, strategies and resources faculty/preceptors/supervisors should consider in order to support learners who witness or experience mistreatment.
FAQs
Q. How do I create and/or activate my account to log into the site?
Q. Is there a cost to attend your programs?
A. There is a cost to participate in some of our programs. The cost of each of our programs varies and in some cases, the cost varies depending on your status with the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at University of Toronto and/or in which hospital you work as well as whether or not you have an annual CFD Membership.
Q.I do not have a faculty appointment in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Can I still attend your workshops, programs and/or events? Is there a fee?
A. Anyone whose education activities include teaching, leading, scholarship and advocacy are welcome to attend our workshops, programs and/or events. Specific pre-requisite criteria may apply. Please refer to each workshop, program or event page for details. All fees and discounts (where applicable) can be found in the workshop, program and event pages.
Q.I am interested in having one of your workshops offered at my home site/department. Do you offer this type of service?
A. Please contact us for further information. The availability of this service is dependent on the resources and capacity of the CFD at the time the request is made.
Q: Is having a CFD Membership the same as having a CFD account?
A: No, a CFD Membership is not the same as a CFD account. However, in order to complete your CFD Membership registration you will be prompted to create a CFD account if you do not already have one. To register for a CFD General Membership and create your account click here.
Need more help?
Our Programs
The CFD offers a number of exceptional programs to meet current and emerging faculty development needs across the health system. View the full listing of CFD’s programs to determine which may best meet your interests and needs.