Frist and foremost I want to say BIG THANK YOUs to all of you for embracing the first day of on-line learning:
All our students - I know it was not without it’s bumps however you all came willing and eager. I am sure as the days progress the issues will diminish.
All our faculty - some of you were teaching using this platform for the first time. In a very short period of time you created curriculum that was innovative and engaging and handled the bumps seamlessly.
All our staff – the support you provide behind the scenes makes everything work so much better… never underestimate your value to our educational enterprise.
IT support – Rob – you have been amazing at supporting us all as we move into this unchartered territory!
Just to keep us all in the loop on the current status in the Department and the profession here are the latest updates:
Staff and Faculty are being encouraged to work remotely if appropriate. All Faculty and Staff are available on-line so please do not hesitate to reach out.
Student are encouraged to continue to practice social distancing, make wise decisions and ensure that you are limiting exposures.
Unit 9 Clinical Internships, scheduled to begin March 30, have been delayed. We know how disappointing this is and we are currently working on a plan both locally and nationally to address issues related to clinical education.
Unit 4 will continue with the on-line learning as outlined on Quercus
Unit 8A has their last session on-line tomorrow morning and their Test #2 on Thursday. Details for Test #2 and it’s on-line administration are available on Quercus and the process will be reviewed during our session tomorrow.
A number of issues bubbled up in Research Monday RIP Rounds today, Kelly and Nancy are exploring options to address the various challenges.
Faculty are reviewing the remaining Year 2 curriculum and determining if we can move some curriculum forward to allow space for clinical internships later in the curriculum… stay tuned
There is a National meeting scheduled for Wednesday where academics, regulators, accreditations and the professional association are coming together to address issues such as; disruptions to curriculum, clinical internships, the national PCE exam dates and supervised licenses to practice. I will update you on the outcomes of that meeting as soon as I am able to.
It is truly hard to believe how quickly the environment around us is changing, we need to continue to move forward with the positive, collaborative approach we have all adopted.
Thank you all for your ongoing patience. Never hesitate to ask if you have questions …. Every question is a valuable one! We will do our best to find an answer.
Be safe.
Sharon Switzer-McIntyre, Susan Jaglal and Brenda Mori Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
