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(Dis)Orientation of International Medical Graduates: An Approach to Foster Teaching, Learning, and Collaboration (TLC)

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Abstract

Objective

The Teaching for Learning and Collaboration (TLC) Program is a teaching-skills program focusing on methods to improve student learning. This program was adopted to address the professional and personal challenges faced by International Medical Graduates (IMGs) completing a fellowship in psychosomatic medicine.

Method

The authors conducted a literature review on the educational challenges encountered by IMGs. Based on this review, an adapted TLC Program was piloted on four IMG fellows who completed a psychosomatic medicine fellowship between 2008 and 2011.

Results

Teachers using the adapted TLC Program reported the following as being significant in the IMG training process: a safe educational environment; having an extended period of time for assessment and fellow adjustment; and more direct, rather than “diplomatic,” feedback.

Conclusions

Although piloted in a psychosomatic medicine fellowship, the TLC program is intended to be generalizable to other medical training settings. Further evaluation of the effectiveness of this approach for IMGs is required.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Psychiatry, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Adrienne Tan M.D., Raed Hawa M.D., Sanjeev Sockalingam M.D. & Susan E. Abbey M.D.

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Adrienne Tan M.D., Raed Hawa M.D., Sanjeev Sockalingam M.D. & Susan E. Abbey M.D.

Authors
  1. Adrienne Tan M.D.
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  2. Raed Hawa M.D.
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  3. Sanjeev Sockalingam M.D.
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  4. Susan E. Abbey M.D.
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Correspondence to Adrienne Tan M.D..

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Tan, A., Hawa, R., Sockalingam, S. et al. (Dis)Orientation of International Medical Graduates: An Approach to Foster Teaching, Learning, and Collaboration (TLC). Acad Psychiatry 37, 104–107 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.11040074

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.11040074

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