Chair’s Column September 2025: A New Academic Year
Dear Colleagues,
I hope everyone had a wonderful summer. I spent three weeks on clinical service (and loved the July/August energy!) and also had some nice family vacation time, including an unplanned but surprisingly enjoyable drive home from the Maritimes during the Air Canada strike.
With the start of this academic year, I would like to extend a special welcome to our new faculty and clinical associates, and to all of the students, residents, fellows, and other trainees who are starting at the University of Toronto. We are delighted to have you join us!
Some departmental updates:
Departmental strategic planning is being facilitated by MASS LBP, who have hosted a series of focus groups, launched a survey for faculty, staff, and trainees (link here), and will be facilitating a retreat in late September. We anticipate sharing the results later this year, and these will of course inform our future workplan. If you would like to provide additional input, feel to contact our strategic planning team via kayte@masslbp.com with “DoM Strategic Planning” in the subject line.
Transition from WebCV to Elements: We have received a progress update from the Elements team. Full details can be found here.
Teaching evaluation reform: Our department, in collaboration with the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, continues to work on a range of initiatives to improve the way that teaching evaluations are collected and used, including refinements to the appeals process and changes to the LACT forms. Our special departmental working group, led by Shiphra Ginsburg and Lynfa Stroud, continues to meet and identify areas for further changes.
Academic appointments: The Temerty Faculty of Medicine (TFoM) recently revised its criteria for appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor, and the Department of Medicine has updated its guidelines accordingly. Most of the criteria remain unchanged (see details here), however, evidence of scholarship can now include case reports for Clinician Teachers and middle author publications for Clinicians in Quality and Innovation, provided there is evidence that the candidate played an important role.
Faculty considering additional appointments with other universities: Clinical faculty members are sometimes asked to contribute to the academic mission of more than one university. To ensure that such roles do not impede faculty members’ abilities to meet their obligations to the University of Toronto, a guide has been created to help identify and manage potential conflicts of interest and commitment.
A reminder of departmental resources: Our Department of Medicine website contains many valuable resources and information for faculty and trainees. There is a dedicated page for new faculty with information on university perquisites such as the dependant scholarship program and discounts on publication charges.
As always, I am happy to hear from you by email or anonymously via this secure link. I’m also available for individual or small group meetings and self-bookings can be made through Calendly. I look forward to a productive and enjoyable year together.
Sincerely,
Moira
Dr. Moira Kapral Sir John and Lady Eaton Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
