Ontario’s hospitals are essential partners in educating and training the next generation of health care providers. While hospitals are not often regarded as educators, they host clinical students and other learners who receive and participate in hands-on education and training across a variety of programs including medicine, nursing, diagnostic imaging, pharmacy and more. For many learners, the required clinical education provided by hospitals is invaluable, bridging learnings from the classroom to real-world settings and preparing them to contribute to the broader health system, including in primary care, long-term care, and more.
Highlighted as a key priority within the Ontario Hospital Association’s (OHA) Strategic Plan, this education is fundamental to helping future health care professionals acquire the requisite knowledge, skills, and experiences to provide high-quality care.
This issue of Health System News showcases some of the many important and innovative educational programs designed and delivered by Ontario hospitals, as well as insights from leaders and interviews with educators in this space.
Building Capacity to Support Current and Future Demand for Care
A recent study titled, Patterns of Illness in Ontario, conducted by the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto in collaboration with the OHA, showed that Ontario’s health care system will face significant pressure over the next two decades due to rapid population growth, higher incidence of chronic illness, and a rising number of older adults with increasingly complex health needs. As leaders in clinical education, hospitals are stepping up to train even more learners in engaging and innovative ways to help address the health care needs of today and the future. Learn more about the simulation programs at several Ontario hospitals, including the Hospital for Sick Children, Unity Health Toronto, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Health Sciences North, and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton.
Historically, much of this education has been provided by Ontario’s academic hospitals, which have a mandate comprised of research and education activities, as well as various community hospitals. More recently and in light of increasing health system demands, several large community hospitals are expanding their education activities to support learners across the province. Read about the important work underway at the Scarborough Health Network and William Osler Health System to enhance their educational offerings. These successful initiatives offer important learnings that can support novel approaches to clinical education across the province.
Teaching Vital Skills through Real-World Application
Hospitals like Kingston Health Sciences Centre work in partnership with universities and colleges to educate Ontario’s workforce, as hospital-based clinical education is a crucial avenue for bridging what learners are taught in post-secondary institutions with real-world settings. Hospitals expose learners to the opportunities they need to develop skills to diagnose, treat, and manage diverse patient populations, including the hands-on experience necessary to deliver compassionate, patient-centred care.
This clinical training also provides learners with the skills and knowledge required to work with patients who have complex and high-acuity needs which they may not encounter in other settings. This is enriched by support from experienced health providers and learners from a wide range of roles that promote team-based or interprofessional learning and collaboration. One innovative program is preparing students for collaborative practice. A cross-organizational partnership has been created with the Centre for Advancing Collaborative Healthcare and Education (CACHE), University of Toronto and the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN) hospitals, with the University Health Network (UHN) as the leading hospital. Other examples include St.
Joseph's Health Care London's unique pharmacy residency program, and Baycrest's interprofessional virtual education aimed at enhancing care for older adults.
Preceptors and supervisors are crucial to ensuring learners are well-supported and receive appropriate guidance to acquire the right knowledge, skills, and judgment to practice safely and effectively. As licensed health professionals, preceptors volunteer their time to provide training and supervision to learners. The dedication of preceptors from various professions cannot be overstated, as they consistently rise to meet the dual demands of providing frontline care and training learners. Read about the valuable contributions of clinical preceptors Kyle Williams, Dr. Alim Pardhan and Meaghan Tangredi.
To hospitals like Hamilton Health Sciences and Trillium Health Partners, learners are also an invaluable resource particularly those at a more advanced stage of their training, as they help provide services and augment care. Learners also serve as a vital pipeline for recruitment.
Ontario is at a critical juncture, pressed to meet the health care demands of today and the future. As sites of clinical education, and supported by a culture of excellence and innovation, hospitals are integral to maintaining and strengthening system capacity. Although their importance is often understated and unacknowledged, ensuring that hospitals are empowered to maintain their programming while also expanding their offerings is critical to the ongoing delivery of outstanding care and building a high-performing system.