The four-year MD Program at Queen’s University is currently structured in sequential terms which will allow students to progress from scientific foundational knowledge through to clinical foundations of the human systems and finally, in clinical engagement during a two-year clinical rotation series; including electives for students to explore areas of interest.

The pre-clerkship experience comprises the first two years at Queen’s and is designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed for clinical experiences in clerkship and in residency through an in-person curriculum.   The curriculum is designed to combine teaching foundational basic science knowledge and principles of physician roles, along with clinical teaching, both in the classroom and in clinical skills.  In addition to attending large-group classroom-based sessions, students will work closely with tutors in small groups and will learn in a variety of settings, including laboratories, clinical skills centers, the simulation laboratory, and hospital and community settings. At the end of the first year, students participate in Community Week in regional sites in Ontario, where they work with family physicians and other health professionals.

Please note that although the MD program is based at the Kingston campus, the clerkship portion of the MD program component is delivered in a regional format, with all students spending one-third to three-quarters of their clerkship outside of Kingston. The clerkship experience at Queen’s provides students with a wide breadth of clinical experiences to prepare them for future practice. Encompassing the final two years of medical school training, it is a blend of clinical rotations in core disciplines, classroom-based consolidation experiences, and elective opportunities. Students can engage in either block-based clinical rotations or integrated clinical experiences, which are anchored in Family Medicine and combine clinical opportunities from a variety of disciplines.

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Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Call to Action #24

We call upon medical and nursing schools in Canada to require all students to take a course dealing with Indigenous health issues, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Indigenous rights, and Indigenous teachings and practices. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

This Call to Action requires ongoing response and commitment.

Given the nature of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours to be shared with our medical learners, rather than create a single, stand-alone course (which could serve to silo this content in a single place in our curriculum), Queen’s MD Program has addressed this call by creating a cross-curricular integrated thread. As such, Queen’s Medical students receive initial foundational instruction in Year 1 courses MEDS 113 Introduction to Physician Roles, MEDS 117 Heath Determinants, and MEDS 123 Population Health (including instruction of the history and legacy of residential schools, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Indigenous rights, and Indigenous teachings and practices, including intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism) which includes both instruction and mandatory assessment. This curriculum includes presentations and panels by local Indigenous Community members. This foundational instruction is expanded upon in Year 2 integrated throughout in Clinical Foundations and Clinical and Communication Skills courses (all of which have been assigned the new MCC Presentation 78-9 Indigenous Health as a learning objective) and is continued throughout the clinical Clerkship of Years 3 and 4.

It is important to note that this integration is a work-in-progress as we continue to evaluate and map our curriculum, finalize a gap analysis, and augment our current content.