Graduate Diploma in Health Research (GDipHR)

Applicants will apply through a competitive process in the Fall of Year 1 of the MD Program and, if accepted, will start in January of that year. The expected intake is 15 students this year. Acceptance of eligible medical students into the Diploma program will occur as follows.

At the beginning of the fall term, all first-year MD students will be notified about the Diploma program and directed to resources including the website.

Any interested students may apply to the program by submitting the following documents by email to the GDipHR office at gdip.hres@utoronto.ca no later than NOVEMBER 10, 2023.

NOTE: The adjudicators will be evaluating the documents listed here, not the descriptions of projects posted on the website. 

1. Curriculum vitae

2. Personal statement explaining their interest in the GDipHR Program (maximum 500 words)

3. Description of a research project they are interested in (maximum 500 words)

• Students are strongly encouraged to (virtually) meet with prospective supervisors to ensure they have a clear understanding of what will be involved in undertaking the proposed research project
• A supervisor who receives interest from multiple students is expected to interview and indicate to each student if they are preferred for the project, pending acceptance of the student into the GDipHR program. 
• A student who is accepted to the GDipHR program, but is not selected by the supervisor of their first choice project, will have the opportunity to ask for supervision during a different project from a list of GDipHR projects that remain available.

4. Written confirmation of Good Standing in the MD Program (Letter from the program, signed by Registrar/Vice-Dean)

5. Undergraduate and graduate academic transcripts for any previous programs of study. At the initial application phase, an email copy will suffice. Once you are accepted into the program, you will be required to supply an original transcript. This is to be sent either electronically by the University OR a mailed original.

Applications will be submitted to the Adjudication Committee for competitive selection. Adjudicators will assess each application for overall acceptability as well as provide a cumulative numerical score for the rank order.

The students with the top applications will be informed of their selection in early December.

Once the student/supervisor pairs are decided, they are to notify the GDipHR office (gdip.hres@utoronto.ca), who will, in turn, send a Mentor Agreement form, which confirms the commitment of the faculty member to supervise the student's specific research project, no later than December 15, 2023

The Diploma consists of 2.5 full-course equivalents (FCE):

• MSC1991Y Supervised Research Project – mentored, supervised, and experiential learning. The supervisor provides guidance as needed during the conduct of the project, during reflection upon what has been learned thereby, and during the dissemination of novel results to target audiences. This classical form of research learning is considered essential to graduate-level research training.
• MSC1992Y Research Skills for the Physician Scientist – consists of four Parts of equal (0.25 FCE) weight, with a blend of lectures, seminar discussions, project assignments and online material
• Elective Graduate Level Half Course – chosen by students from a list of courses offered by the Institute of Medical Sciences, the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation.

About Research Skills for the Physician Scientist (MSC1992Y)

This course is presented in 4 parts of equal weight (0.25 FCE), spread out over five consecutive terms. Students are introduced to advanced concepts pertinent to health-related research. They provide a basis for understanding approaches and methodologies applicable to the broad range of research fields included in the four pillars of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.

PART 1: PREPARING FOR RESEARCH

• Lectures by research faculty about specific approaches to bridging gaps in knowledge in their field; topical areas including ethics, problem-solving, and decision-making.
• Presentations by students and group discussions of the plans for their projects in the companion Supervised Research Project (MSC1991Y) practicum courses.

Self-guided online teaching element on writing research grants.

PART 2: Translational Research Topics for Health Professionals

• Seminars by faculty experts on their areas of translational research
• Approach to a research question and problem-solving
• Journal club critiques of assigned research papers by students

PART 3: Special Topics in Health Research

• Faculty presentations illustrating the application of health research principles and techniques such as quantitative and qualitative techniques; statistical analysis / clinical epidemiology / clinical research; basic biomedical/molecular / developmental / stem cell biology; public health/education / health services/health economics research; knowledge translation/quality improvement
• Journal club critiques of assigned research papers by students

PART 4: Dissemination of Results

• Communicating the results of research to a variety of audiences
• Seminars on career development issues, including communicating with potential employers, the media (TV, radio, newspapers), trainees at all levels, the general public, publishers, funding agencies, peer reviewers, applicants for funding/training positions, university and hospital administrators, government, industry
• Student oral presentations of the results of their research projects
• Poster presentation at Medical Student Research Day (MSRD)

All Diploma students must also be registered in the undergraduate MD program, which has Fall and Winter terms in each year, but not Summer terms in the first two years. The Diploma program will begin at the start of the second (Winter) term of the MD Program’s first year. The Diploma students will be registered with IMS on a part-time basis program over 5 consecutive terms, proceeding with a registration sequence of winter/summer/fall/winter/summer. Therefore, Diploma students will also be registered concurrently as full-time MD students in the Winter term of the first MD year and during the Fall and Winter terms of the second MD year. In order to limit the additional workload generated by Diploma-related activities during the regular MD program, the aggregate of Diploma activities will occupy at least 40 hours per week during the Summer sessions (i.e., full-time work equivalent), but no more than 10 hours per week during the Fall and Winter sessions. The scheduling of MD for-credit activities early in the MD program provides the opportunity for MD students to pursue cognate academic activities, such as the GDipHR. 

In order to successfully complete GDipHR, certain requirements must be met in addition to the research project. Failure to complete these requirements may result in the student being terminated from the program.

NOTE: In order to complete the Graduate Diploma in Health Research, with an official record on their University of Toronto academic transcript, graduating MD students will have successfully completed the following courses:

• MSC1991Y, Supervised Research Project (Credit evaluation of the Final Report by the Supervisory Committee)
• MSC1992Y, Research Skills for the Physician-Scientist
• An approved elective Graduate half-course

Faculty research project submissions for the 2024-2025 GDipHR Program are due October 16, 2023. Information for prospective Faculty Supervisors can be found here: GDipHR - Call for Proposals

GDipHR students complete a research project, supervised by at least one full-time faculty member. Primary Supervisors must have an unrestricted appointment to the School of Graduate Students (SGS) at the University of Toronto (conferring the authority to independently supervise graduate students), preferably a demonstration of previous student mentorship and available funds sufficient to cover $7,500 which is half of the student’s total stipend ($15,000) and the costs of the student’s research.

Components of the Program are outlined on  GDipHR 2023 - Supervisor Commitment that prospective Faculty Research Project Supervisors are asked to sign and submit, accepting the GDipHR Program requirements in the event that a Faculty supervises a selected student.

Please submit proposed research projects on the GDipHR - Supervisor and Project Submission Form (by email only) to gdip.hres@utoronto.ca by October 16, 2023, along with a signed GDipHR Supervisor Commitment Form.    

Key Reminders:

To submit a research project, please complete:

• The GDipHR Supervisor and Project Submission Form
• GDipHR Supervisor Commitment Form, accepting the GDipHR Program requirements in the event that a Faculty supervises a selected student.

Deadline: October 16, 2023

What Happens After Project Submission?

• Submitted projects will be reviewed to ensure they meet eligibility criteria and will be posted on the GDipHR Program Website. 
• Students are asked to view the catalogue and identify project(s) of interest. Students are strongly encouraged to meet with the prospective supervisor, to ensure they have a clear understanding of what will be involved in undertaking the proposed research project. 
• Faculty Research Project Supervisors are asked to meet with the students and, if more than one student reaches out, one student should be selected for a project. We only allow ONE student per project and Faculty are only allowed to supervise ONE GDipHR student per cohort. 
• Students are required to submit their applications by November 10, 2023.  
• Students applying to GDipHR will be notified of their selection by December 4, 2023
• Once a student has been accepted to the program and the student and supervisor have confirmed their agreement to work together, the student/supervisor pair will notify the GDipHR office by email at gdip.hres@utoronto.ca no later than December 15, 2023, and confirm the commitment of the Faculty member to supervise the student’s specific research project in GDipHR.