Thank you for your interest in joining the Patient as Teacher program as a patient teacher.

About the Program

Patient as Teacher is a new and exciting program that integrates humanistic and patient-centred approaches into undergraduate surgical education. As the program name suggests: patients become the teachers. Previous patients volunteer their time to share their experiences and insights with medical students from the University of Toronto. In turn, students learn about the surgical journey from the perspectives of patients. Our goal is to contribute to the learning and practice of compassionate and socially responsible care.

What Do Patient Teachers Do? 

Volunteering as a patient teacher involves sharing your experiences of being a surgical patient with a small group of medical students during 2 separate sessions. You will be participating in each session with another patient teacher (as a pair) and sessions are facilitated by a health care professional. All activities will take place at either St. Michael’s Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, or Toronto General Hospital.

The total time commitment is approx. 4 hours and is organized as follows:

  • Half-day story-telling workshop and orientation session
  • 2 sessions (60-75 minutes each)
  • debrief interview (45 minutes)

 

Becoming a Patient Teacher

You can explore the Patient as Teacher website to learn more about the program.

If you are interested in becoming a Patient Teacher,  fill out the form here.
Application to Become A Patient Teacher

If you have any questions, please contact us.


Become a Patient and Family Advisor at St. Michael’s Hospital

You sometimes notice things we don’t. What if you could design a better healthcare experience for you and your loved ones? At St. Michael’s Hospital we partner with our patients, their families, and caregivers to work collaboratively with our staff, nurses and physicians to ensure the best possible experience for our patients.

If you are interested in volunteering for this opportunity or to learn more about our Patient and Family Advisors please email PFA@smh.ca or visit our website: http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/patients/pe-patient-family.php