Health Profession Learners

Clinical Nutrition

Registered dietitians are important members of our health-care teams at Sinai Health. Dietitians work across all areas of care to help patients meet their nutritional needs.

At Mount Sinai we often have opportunities for placements in the Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes, Intensive Care Unit and our Inflammatory Bowel Disease program, among others.

At Hennick Bridgepoint, dietitians work across all inpatient units to provide nutritional care to every population.

We offer internships to students from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and the University of Toronto (U of T).

Learners in Clinical Nutrition at Sinai Health can expect to:

Work in a variety of patient care services
Work in a fast-paced setting with interprofessional teams
Gain experience in medical nutrition therapy, enteral and parenteral nutrition and nutrition counselling

Dentistry

Mount Sinai’s Department of Dentistry is the most academically active hospital-based dental program among the University of Toronto-affiliated teaching hospitals.

The department serves as a training ground for dental students, dental specialty residents and medical residents. Dentistry placements offer invaluable clinical experience and exposure to diverse disciplines of dentistry. The department also offers continuing education opportunities for dental professionals in the community.

Dentistry learners can receive specialized dental training in:

Oral and maxillofacial surgery
Emergency dentistry
General dentistry for people with disabilities
Oral medicine and pathology
Periodontal surgery

Laboratory Medicine

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PLM) supports patient care at Sinai Health by providing diagnostic and laboratory testing services.

Our department trains more than 70 learners a year through undergraduate placements, specialized fellowships, doctoral and post-doctoral programs.

PLM faculty teach many of the undergraduate courses in the U of T medical school program. They also offer research supervision for both MSc and PhD graduate students and pathology residents.

Our learners have the opportunity to shadow a lab medicine health-care professional and to participate in elective training.

PLM often recruits from our pool of learners, so students and new graduates are encouraged to explore career opportunities with PLM.

Undergraduate

PLM faculty teach learners at all levels including technical, medical students, graduate, post graduate and post doctoral at the U of T and provide undergraduate summer research opportunities.

We also offer opportunities to shadow a lab medicine health-care provider and elective training for medical students interested in laboratory medicine. Electives time can be arranged for students from across Canada and abroad.

For information on how to arrange a research, elective or a shadowing experience in PLM, please contact Dr. Carlo Hojilla at [email protected].

Graduate

Our faculty are involved in teaching and offer shadowing opportunities for students in the following programs:

Masters of Health Science (MHSc) in Laboratory Medicine for pathologists’ assistants
Masters of Health Science (MHSc) in Medical Genomics
Masters of Health Science (MHSc) in Genetic Counseling

We also offer research supervision for both MSc and PhD graduate students. If you are interested in finding supervisors, you can identify faculty through the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute or Temerty Medicine Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology.

Post-graduate

PLM participates in the training of Temerty Faculty of Medicine residents and offers specialized fellowships.

Our areas of specialty training for both residencies and fellowships include:

Breast pathology
Gastrointestinal pathology
Gynaecological pathology
Head and neck pathology
Hematopathology
Musculoskeletal pathology
Perinatal pathology
Transfusion medicine
Clinical biochemistry
Genetics

We also train Clinical Chemistry postgraduate fellows from the University of Toronto.

For information on how to arrange a fellowship, please contact Dr. Carlo Hojilla at [email protected].

Technical education

PLM helps train laboratory technologist students from the following programs:

We may also train students from other institutions on an individual basis.

Midwifery

Mount Sinai welcomes midwifery students as part of our interprofessional care teams in the Women’s and Infants' program. Midwifery students from TMU, McMaster University and Laurentian University are supervised by Sinai Health obstetricians, nurses and paediatricians.

The Midwives Collective of Toronto is the practice group which holds privileges at Mount Sinai. They offer 18-week to 10-month clinical rotations for students to participate in the clinical care of patients. Approximately four students per year are supervised by staff midwives.

Midwifery students experience hands-on learning and clinical care in:

Labour and Delivery
Neonatal Intensive Care
Postnatal clinics

Pharmacy

The Department of Pharmacy supports patient care at Sinai Health through the distribution and oversight of patient medication.

Our department offers a variety of hands-on educational placements, from early to post-graduate studies. We train learners from the U of T and University of Waterloo, Humber, Centennial and Georgian Colleges, as well as Canadian Forces pharmacists.

We accept two Pharmacy residents per year to complete a one-year post-graduate pharmacist training program. Beginning each September, residents join the Department of Pharmacy at Sinai Health to train as hospital pharmacy practitioners. The application process for pharmacy residencies in Canada is coordinated by the Canadian Pharmacy Residency Board (CPRB). Find more details about the residency at the CPRB.

Pharmacy and pharmacy technician students are also welcome to volunteer. They can complete required courses and rotations and enhance their learning in a practical and encouraging environment.

Pharmacy learners will:

Practice pharmaceutical skills under supervision
Learn a hospital dispensing system
Work in an interprofessional environment with other health-care professionals

Physical and Occupational Therapy

Physiotherapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs) are important members of our health-care teams at Sinai Health.

We also have advanced physiotherapy practitioners (APP) who offer their expertise as part of the Orthopaedics and Rheumatology interprofessional teams.

PTs and OTs help patients maximize their physical function. They often work with patients after an injury, surgery, prolonged hospital stay or a medical event like a stroke.

Occupational therapist and physiotherapist assistants (OTA/PTA) are dually trained to support our Rehabilitation programs across both disciplines.

At Mount Sinai, we offer PT, OT, OTA/PTA and APP placements within our dedicated Rehabilitation Department. Students will have opportunities to work across many areas of care. These include Psychiatry, the Emergency Department, the Wasser Pain Management Clinic and the Neonatal Follow-up Clinic.

At Hennick Bridgepoint, PT, OT and OTA/PTA students work with patients in both the Rehabilitation and Complex Continuing Care programs. These include our Stroke, Acquired Brain Injury, Orthopaedic Rehab, Medical Rehab and Palliative Care units.

We offers placements to students from universities and accredited colleges such as Humber College and Centennial College. (Please note that PT and OT placements at Mount Sinai are only open to students from the University of Toronto.)

Physical and Occupational Therapy learners will:

Care for a wide variety of patients across various areas of care
Integrate their theoretical knowledge with practical, hands-on training
Collaborate with other health-care professionals

Respiratory Therapy

Respiratory therapists (RTs) are important members of our health-care teams and are part of the centralized RT Department at Sinai Health. RTs manage patient airways and mechanical ventilation across all inpatient programs at both Mount Sinai and Hennick Bridgepoint. At Mount Sinai, they also work in our Critical Care programs (ICU and NICU).

Our RT teams also oversee and manage the Pulmonary Function Lab, the Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Clinic and the Smoking Cessation Clinic.

The RT department offers educational opportunities and work placements for RT students where they will:

Work closely with RT educators and receive clinical oversight from RT preceptors
Apply classroom learning into practice
Work with different members of our health-care teams
Experience a variety of clinical settings

Anesthesia assistants (AAs) are part of the Respiratory Therapy (RT) Department and are regulated RTs by background. AAs work closely with anesthesiologists to form the Anesthesia care team at Mount Sinai. They also work in the collaborative care model at the Kensington Eye Institute.

AAs care for various patient populations, including those in Surgery, Labour and Delivery, Endoscopy, Cardiology and the Emergency Department.

Mount Sinai offers educational opportunities and work placements for AA students, in which they:

Evaluate patients before, during and after surgery
Assist with the administration of a wide range of anesthesia
Work with different members of our interprofessional health-care team
Gain experience in a fast-paced hospital setting

Social Work

Social work

Hospital social workers support patients and families and our health-care teams. They help patients navigate complex systems and challenges and connect them with the right supports.

Both Mount Sinai and Hennick Bridgepoint offer field placements to Master of Social Work students. These practicum placements may take place in one area of the hospital or rotate through two or more areas.

All Social Work learners will have the opportunity to:

Work with other health-care team members as part of an interprofessional team
Work directly with patients and families to provide education, counselling and advocacy
Help support the discharge of patients as they transition out of our hospitals
Work in one or more area of the hospital, including Women’s and Infants' Health, Orthopaedics, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, General Internal Medicine, Rehabilitation, Complex Continuing Care and Palliative Care

We have affiliation agreements with the Faculties of Social Work at the University of Toronto, Wilfred Laurier University and the University of Waterloo. These placements are organized by the universities in collaboration with Sinai Health.

For more information, please speak to your university placement coordinator about requesting a social work placement at Sinai Health.

Speech-Language Pathology

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) evaluate and treat a variety of communication and swallowing disorders.

At Hennick Bridgepoint, they also work closely with communicative disorders assistants (CDAs) to provide therapy to a wide range of patients.

We offer student placement to SLP learners from universities and communicative disorders assistant (CDAs) learners from accredited college programs. (Please note that SLP placements at Mount Sinai are only open to students from the University of Toronto.)

All learners will have the opportunity to:

Work with patients under the supervision of an SLP
Work with different members of our interprofessional health-care team
Attend events and small-group clinical sessions

Spiritual Care

Spiritual care providers are important members of our health-care team. They provide individualized care based on the core beliefs of patients and caregivers.

The department of Spiritual Care offers clinical pastoral educational programs recognized by the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care and College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.

The application process includes enrolment in a post-graduate degree program, application to our pastoral education program and an interview.

We welcome learners form a variety of educational programs, including U of T and Tyndale University.

Spiritual Care learners will receive the opportunity to:

Learn about clinically-based spiritual care in a multi-faith, multicultural setting
Engage in group work with a focus on self-awareness and skill development
Practice spiritual care in clinical settings and work with a diverse patient population
Work with different members of our interprofessional health-care team
Support the spiritual needs of our patients across different areas of our hospitals, including Women’s and Infants', the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the Hennick Bridgepoint Palliative Care Unit

Therapeutic Recreation

Recreation therapists specialize in functional intervention, education and recreation activities. These help our rehabilitation patients improve or maintain their physical, cognitive, emotional and social function.

At Hennick Bridgepoint, recreation therapists are an important part of our Rehabilitation team. They help patients develop a better quality of life and optimal health through meaningful participation in recreation.

We offer clinical placement opportunities for recreation therapist students and recreational therapy assistant students. Our learners will have the opportunity to:

Work with patients under the supervision of a recreation therapist
Work with different members of our interprofessional health-care team
Apply classroom learning in a hospital setting

Affiliated post-secondary schools and institutions

Sinai Health is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. We also have academic partnerships with many different publicly funded educational institutions including:

Anderson College (formerly Westervelt)
Brescia University College
Brock University
Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology
Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College
Centennial College of Applied Arts and Technology
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Dalhousie University
Durham College of Applied Arts and Technology
Fleming College
George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology
Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Laurentian University of Sudbury
Loyalist College
McGill University
McMaster University
Michener Institute of Education at UHN
Niagara College
Nipissing University
Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCADU)
Ontario Tech University (formerly UOIT)
Oxford College of Arts, Business and Technology
Queen’s University at Kingston
Renison University College (affiliated with the University of Waterloo)
Saskatchewan Polytechnic
Seneca College
St. Francis Xavier University
St. Lawrence College
The Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto Art Therapy Institute
Toronto Metropolitan University
Trent University
Tyndale University
University of Alberta
University of Manitoba
University of Ottawa
University of Toronto
University of Waterloo
Walden University, LLC
Western University
Wilfred Laurier University
York University