Education

Continuing medical education and continuing professional development are key to maintaining competence, increasing knowledge and skills, staying up to date, and enhancing patient care. Continued learning is both a personal and professional responsibility, and supporting enhanced physician learning is a high priority for the government of Ontario.

Continuing medical education (CME)  
CME encompasses learning through lectures, teleconferencing, courses and conferences, online courses, and self-directed options. This variety of CME experiences is designed to meet the diverse needs of busy practitioners.

For accreditation, CME programs for family physicians must meet criteria established by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. For specialists, programs must meet criteria established by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Continuing medical education programs are offered through a number of sources including universities, hospitals, and the provincial and national colleges. Please contact these institutions directly for current listings of CME opportunities.

CME Resources:

The Ontario Medical Association offers a CME Program for Rural and Isolated Physicians.
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario           
Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) 
College of Family Physicians of Canada

Government Education Programs 

Re-entry Training Positions for Canadian Physicians
The Ministry offers a number of third-year family medicine re-entry training positions and specialty re-entry training positions for currently practising Canadian physicians.

Repatriation Program: Additional Postgraduate Medical Training Positions in Ontario
The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term care is funding training positions to recruit physicians who have completed postgraduate residency training and require up to two years of additional training to meet the certification requirements of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).

Free Tuition Program for Physicians  
This program provides up to $40,000 (or $10,000 per year) to final-year medical students, residents, and newly graduated physicians to offset tuition costs in exchange for a full-time return-of-service contract in an eligible community. Return-of-service opportunities exist across the province from Kenora to Windsor to Ottawa. In addition, the Free Tuition Program is complemented by the Location Incentive Fund, which may provide Free Tuition recipients with additional financial incentives if the applicant's tuition is less than $10,000 per year.