Message from the Director, Integrated Physician Scientist Training Program
The University of Toronto continues to be internationally recognized for its leadership in physician scientist training. The Integrated Physician Scientist Training Programs (IPSTP) offer a competency-based, flexible, and customizable pathway that builds on the strengths of our existing programs to support the next generation of clinician-scientists.
Based on their dual training in medicine and research, clinician scientists are uniquely positioned to address the health challenges of today and the future. However, despite their inherent value, there is ongoing concern that clinician scientists are becoming an ‘endangered species, and efforts must be made to address these concerns. Challenges identified in developing clinician scientist leaders are:
- Recruitment and retention of trainees
- Length of training and lack of support at key transition points
- Rapidly and independently changing worlds of medical and scientific training
Despite these challenges, physician scientists play a crucial role in advancing medical knowledge and improving patient care. To address these ongoing challenges, our strategic plan identifies thirteen strategic initiatives focused on supportive policies, mentorship programs, and sustainable funding strategies that are essential for fostering the next generation of physician scientists.
This past year, we proudly celebrated ten outstanding MD/PhD graduates and welcomed nine new learners into the program. Our 2024 fall retreat bringing together all members of the MD PhD program focused on key themes including collaborative research and wellness, with a featured presentation by Professor Jim Dowling.
The Comprehensive Research Experience for Medical Students (CREMS), led by Dr. Catharine Walsh, continues to thrive, with nearly 80 learners participating. Year over year, students continue to present their work at the annual Medical Student Research Day, a vibrant showcase of research excellence across Temerty Medicine, with nearly 200 learners participating. Additionally, a new stream was introduced that focused on MD students with prior PhD to enhance their research skills development.
The Graduate Diploma in Health Research (GDipHR), also under Dr. Walsh’s leadership, is now in its sixth year. This longitudinal program offers medical students a comprehensive research experience—from idea generation to publication. A record 16 students were accepted into the GDipHR this year.
The Clinician Investigator Program (CIP), under the direction of our new program director Dr Andrea McCart, remains a cornerstone of our training ecosystem, offering formal research education and career development for residents. This year, 16 new residents joined the program, while 18 graduated. The CIP hosted its second in-person networking evening in November 2024. The theme for this year’s event was “Beyond the Lab: Clinician-investigators’ impact on policy, industry, administration, and beyond” featuring a panel of speakers including Dr. Anna Dare, Dr. Daniel Drucker, Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, Dr. Danielle Rodin and Dr. Nathan Stall. Additionally, the program hosted the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation (CSCI) Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada (CITAC) Annual Joint Meeting in Toronto in April 2025 providing career development and networking opportunities for clinician scientist trainees from across the country.
We are incredibly proud of the achievements, innovations, and community-building efforts across all our programs in 2024–25. As we look ahead, we remain committed to advancing physician scientist training and fostering a vibrant, inclusive research community.
Program Innovations
Physician Scientist Mentorship Community of Support
To support skill development of early career researchers and foster mentorship and community development, this pilot program of the Mentorship Academy was launched in January 2024 with eight early career researchers and 26 Clinician Investigator (CIP) Program / MD PhD trainees. A group mentorship approach is utilized to facilitate the creation of a community-based support network. Pairs of early career faculty co-mentors receive specific mentorship training and development that is then used to facilitate mentorship programming with their group of junior trainees in the MD/PhD or CIP.
Workshops for early career researchers included Feedback and Coaching, Creating Networks, Facilitating Wellness in Learners, How to Have Effective conversations, and Coaching for Research Independence.
Parental Support
The IPSTP is undertaking a new initiative to evaluate parental support needs of current and former MD PhD trainees nationally to inform the development of comprehensive, evidence-based policies that address the unique needs of pregnant and parenting MD/PhD learners at Temerty Medicine. Key objectives include the development of supportive policies, allocation of dedicated funding, and promotion of equity and accessibility. This initiative reflects our commitment to fostering a supportive, inclusive training environment that recognizes and accommodates the diverse life experiences of our learners.
Maintenance and Growth of MD/PhD Program
With the goal of further strengthening the Physician Scientist community, the Integrated Physician Scientist Training Program is developing a comprehensive fundraising campaign to support physician scientist training at Temerty Medicine for targeted growth and capacity building across all Physician Scientist training pathways.
Accelerated Research Residency Pathway
This initiative aims to reduce the overall training duration for MD/PhD students by integrating research time into residency, providing a flexible and personalized training approach while maintaining clinical engagement to prevent skill erosion.
Education Scholarship
Our IPSTP learners were actively engaged in scholarship activities for the 2024-2025 academic year. Representatives from the Integrated Physician Scientist Training Programs participated in national and international medical education conferences and were highly productive in knowledge translation of their work through impactful publications. View a complete list of MD/PhD student publications on our website.
Awards
Year over year, our learners in the MD/PhD Program continue to be recognized through various awards. This past year, 11 CIHR Vanier Awards, 8 CIHR Doctoral Awards and 2 CIHR Masters Awards were awarded to learners in our program. These are just a few highlights of the financial awards bestowed upon our learners.
In the areas of research and education, Dr. Nicola Jones was awarded a Canadian Association of Gastroenterology Education Excellence Award for making a significant contribution to education on a national or international basis. The contribution may be in the areas of direct teaching, research in education or the development of educational programs. She was also the 2025 Ivan T. Beck Memorial Lectureship Award recipient from the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology. As the recipient she presented the Ivan T. Beck Memorial Lectureship at the annual Gastroenterology Residents-in-Training (GRIT) Course.
And in one of Temerty Medicine’s largest senior academic promotions cycle, Dr. Catharine Walsh was appointed to the rank of Full Professor.
