Electives Program

Undergraduate Electives in Anesthesiology at the University of Toronto

Thank you for your interest in an elective in anesthesiology at the University of Toronto!

Since 2023, we have centralized the internal undergraduate elective applications process across our teaching sites. Elective applications are submitted via MedSIS portal, where students select their desired site and date(s) of elective.

Visit the national portal to view the University of Toronto’s institutional profile for information on the application process, our polices and guidelines and the specialties that are currently available.

Students from other schools who have questions beyond what is detailed on the AFMC site may kindly contact medicine.intelective@utoronto.ca.

Electives are accepted on a first-come basis, and elective availability is based on site-specific factors such as operating room volumes and concurrent trainees. Of note, when University of Toronto elective and visiting elective slots overlap, priority will be given to University of Toronto undergraduate students for electives. However, all reasonable efforts will be made to provide applicants with an elective opportunity, for example offering students an alternative date or site based on availability.

Once an elective is approved, the site administrator and contact will provide students with subsequent information on preparation and registration requirements for their site.

Please contact Eva Bowman, Program Coordinator, Undergraduate Medical Education – Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, at undergrad.anesthesia@utoronto.ca with any specific questions once an application has been submitted.

For undergraduate students applying from outside the University of Toronto, please refer to the AFMC Student Portal for the elective application process.

Objectives

Observe and participate in pre-operative anesthetic assessments of patients presenting for surgery.

Recognize the role of pre-operative optimization of patients presenting for surgery, when possible.

Gain experience in basic airway management maneuvers, including but not limited to bag-mask ventilation, endotracheal intubation, and supraglottic airway device placement.

Understand the role of common anesthetic drugs in the peri-operative management of patients, i.e. analgesia.

Participate in handover of care in the perioperative period, i.e. in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU).

Expectations

While students are assigned to a primary preceptor for their anesthesiology elective, their daily assigned preceptor may vary. This is because the daily tasks and operating room assignments of anesthesiologists vary; staff tasked with assigning students attempt to provide a diverse experience that optimally represents the breadth of the specialty. The role of the primary preceptor for the elective is to collect and provide mid-point and final feedback to the student.

Complimentary Electives

Anesthesiology is an extremely collaborative speciality that combines perioperative medicine with physiology, pharmacology, and acute care. If you are seeking electives to compliment your anesthesiology experiences, please consider the following:

CVICU
MSICU
Respirology
Cardiology
Chronic Pain
Hyperbaric Medicine
Internal Medicine

For further direction and assistance please contact:

Dr. Evelina Pankiv
UME Anesthesia Committee
Anesthesia Elective Lead
Staff Anesthesiologist
Department of Anesthesia
The Hospital for Sick Children
evelina.pankiv@sickkids.ca