The Red Book - The College of Family Physicians Canada

The Academic ProgramThere must be a well-organized and comprehensive academic program that complements theclinical learning activities of the residents. It should engage residents in the delivery of thecontent to enhance their teaching and learning skills, including the development of skills asautonomous learners. It must make use of a variety of teaching methods and take into accountthe range of learning styles among the resident group.The academic program must be coordinated through the residency program committeeand be delivered in a consistent manner to all residents at all sites.While acknowledging that different sites will have different resources to support theprogram, an effort must be made to ensure that the governing goals of the program areaddressed in all sites and are adapted to the clinical and teaching resources available at each site.Scholarly ActivityThe academic program must include organized activities that stimulate and reinforce relevantenquiry (eg, journal clubs, seminars or didactic sessions.) Key concepts in biostatistics, criticalappraisal, and biomedical ethics must be taught, and their application to practice must bepromoted. This academic program should be designed to supplement and enhance theexperiential learning offered to residents in both their family practice and other clinically basedor educational experiences.The quality of scholarship in the program should, in part, be demonstrated by a spirit ofenquiry during clinical discussions, experiences outside of family medicine, and conferences.Scholarship implies an in-depth understanding of basic mechanisms of normal and abnormalstates, and the application of current knowledge to practice.The demands of clinical learning must not interfere significantly with residents' ability toparticipate in the academic program. Attendance at key academic activities must be assured byfreeing residents from other duties.There must be easy access to biomedical information resources in print or electronic form,including textbooks, journals, and indexes, at the level of a university or major hospital librarycollection. There must be easy access to core biomedical information resources during eveningsand weekends.21