Preparing Tomorrow’s Primary Care Leaders
Over the past year, more than 1,700 learners including about 800 medical students and residents, furthered their education at NYG. One of them is Dr. Stephanie Park, who is doing her two-year family medicine residency under the supervision of Dr. Kim Lazare, who leads the hospital’s family medicine education program. Dr. Lazare says the strong mentor-mentee relationships between preceptors and residents is a benefit of the program at NYG.
A real-world approach to family medicine education
NYG’s two-year family medicine residency program is one of only a few in the Greater Toronto Area that places residents in family physicians’ offices, instead of in a hospital-based teaching unit. The program educates around 30 family practice residents in physician practices around the city.
“We are different than the more formal academic sites,” says NYG’s family medicine program director Dr. Kim Lazare. “Our residents’ experience mimics more of what they can expect to see in their practices.”
As director of the family medicine program since 2021, Dr. Lazare makes sure residents meet their education requirements and ensures the program meets accreditation standards. She also works closely with the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Family and Community Medicine on curriculum evaluation and development.
Dr. Lazare is also a preceptor (physician instructor) to two residents who work alongside her in her family practice.
“Having a preceptor for two years is so helpful,” says Dr. Stephanie Park, a graduate of the University of Toronto’s medical school who is completing her first year of family medicine residency under Dr. Lazare. “She knows my strengths and what I want to work on. Having someone teaching you as well being a mentor and role model—advocating for you and taking an interest in your career goals—is so important.”
NYG is a popular destination for medical learners because of the opportunity to work one-on-one with medical faculty and staff and because of its focus on generalist education that treats the whole person. “We are a community hospital so the residents have an advantage when they are on, for example, the general surgery rotation because they are seeing bread-and-butter surgery, instead of highly specialized surgeries,” explains Dr. Lazare.
NYG’s family medicine residency program is structured around block-based (four-week long) clinical rotations. However, residents still follow patients longitudinally through their family practices. Even while rotating through other services, they typically spend a half day each week in their family medicine clinics, allowing them to maintain continuity of care with their patients. Residents also participate in a weekly academic session, where teaching is delivered by physicians across a range of specialties, including family medicine.
Dr. Park says this model helps her build meaningful relationships with patients. “Recently I was able to follow a patient through her pregnancy, I was present at the delivery of her baby and was able to see the mother and baby afterwards and then a week later,” she says. “Our curriculum allows us to follow patients throughout their journey.”
Dr. Lazare says the strong mentor-mentee relationships between NYG preceptors and residents is another benefit. “I try to learn about new residents’ personality and interests to I can match them with the right teacher,” she says. “I was a resident at NYG and my two preceptors became mentors and I am still friends with them to this day.”
“NYG is fortunate to have a large faculty of very committed teachers, many of whom were residents in our program and who stayed and started their practices here,” says Dr. Lazare. “That’s really a nice success story for the hospital and speaks to the community feel that our hospital is known for.”
This story is featured in the 2024 – 2025 Year in Review.