By the end of orientation week you'll hear Foundations, CBL, ICE, OSCE, Portfolio, and academy a hundred times. Here's what each one actually means and why it matters.
UofT's MD program splits cleanly into Foundations (years 1–2) and Clerkship (years 3–4). Knowing which phase you're in shapes how you should be spending your time.
Years 1–2
Years 3–4
Before you can do almost anything at UofT — log into Quercus, access the library, swipe into a hospital, or get a building keycard — you need three credentials in this order: a JOINid (temporary), a UTORid (permanent), and a TCard (your physical student ID). Most of this happens online; the TCard pickup happens in person.
Your JOINid is a temporary credential UofT issues so you can start completing onboarding tasks before your full UTORid is provisioned. You'll receive instructions to enable it after accepting your offer.
Once your JOINid is enabled, upload your TCard photo and identity documents through the UofT online portal. The TCard site has a documentation tool that tells you exactly what's required based on your status.
Online submissions take up to 3–5 business days to process. UofT will send approval or denial emails to the address listed in your ACORN profile — make sure that address is current.
Once your photo is approved, you'll receive an email from infosec@utoronto.ca with the subject "Activate Your U of T UTORid." The UTORid is your permanent UofT login and unlocks Quercus, the library, campus Wi-Fi, and your UofT email.
Once your UTORid is activated, you can pick up your physical TCard. No appointments required — just walk in. Note: for newly admitted summer/winter students, the TCard is only issued once your registration status on ACORN is changed to Registered.
Bring with you:
Downtown Toronto · St. George
800 Bay Street — 5th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3A9
Mon–Fri: 9:00 am – 4:45 pm
416-946-8047 · tcard.office@utoronto.ca
Closed on all statutory holidays
Mississauga Campus (UTM)
Communication, Culture & Technology Atrium
Information & Instructional Technology Services Help Desk (Room 0160A)
3359 Mississauga Road North
Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6
905-569-4300 · tcard.utm@utoronto.ca
If you can't wait in line due to a disability, tell TCard staff when you arrive. Hours and details may change — always check the official site before going.
UofT's official guide — current hours, addresses, photo specs, and submission portal. Always check this before going in person.
Foundations, CBL, ICE (and its streams: Clinical Skills, HC, CAP, FMLE), CEE, EEE, OSCE, CaRMS, Elentra. The vocabulary you'll need by the second day of orientation.
Foundations
Pre-Clerkship
The first two years of the MD program — classroom + CBL phase before full-time hospital rotations.
Foundations integrates basic and clinical sciences with clinical reasoning. Lectures, CBLs, anatomy, simulation labs, ICE (Integrated Clinical Experience), and Portfolio. The four courses inside Foundations are ITM (Introduction to Medicine), CPC1, CPC2, and CPC3 — Concepts, Patients & Communities.
Clerkship
Years 3 and 4
Full-time clinical rotations across core specialties.
Core rotations: Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, OB-GYN, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Anesthesia, Emergency. Year 4 is mostly electives plus selectives.
CBL
Case-Based Learning
Small-group sessions structured around clinical cases.
Groups of 8–10 students. Two sessions per week — the first is student-led (you work through the case together without a tutor), the second is led by a faculty tutor a few days later. Cases unfold across the two sessions, integrating that week's basic-science and clinical content. Attendance and preparation matter more than lecture attendance.
ICE
Integrated Clinical Experience
The longitudinal clinical thread woven through all of Foundations.
Typically two half-days per week. ICE has multiple streams that run alongside lectures and CBL: Clinical Skills (history-taking and physical exam), Health in Community (HC), Career Advising & Preparation (CAP, which houses the EEE shadowing program), and in Year 2 the Family Medicine Longitudinal Experience (FMLE). Each stream is described separately below.
ICE: Clinical Skills
History & Physical Exam
The half-day each week where you actually learn how to be a doctor with patients.
Groups of six. Instruction in taking patient histories and performing the physical exam, often paired with the week's CBL content (e.g. cardiac exam during the cardiology week). Standardized patient encounters and real patient encounters happen here. The dress code is business casual — no white coat. The clinical skills resource hub is at thehub.utoronto.ca/clinicalskills.
ICE: HC
Health in Community
Two-year community-engaged learning thread inside ICE.
Combines pre-departure training, in-person tutorials, and self-directed placements at community organizations. The placements themselves are called CEEs (Community Engaged Experiences) — see below. You'll complete a mix: long-term care (LTC), intellectual & developmental disabilities (IDD), Flex placements (your choice), and a longitudinal site you visit several times. Builds competencies in social determinants of health, advocacy, and community health practice. Note: CEE here is not the same as exam-related CEE — this is the placements.
ICE: CAP
Career Advising & Prep
Longitudinal mentorship + career advising thread.
Helps you explore specialties, plan electives, and prepare your CaRMS application. Most contact is through your academy and the Career Advising team. Houses the EEE shadowing program (see below) — when you log a shadowing experience on MedSIS, it goes into the CAP dashboard.
Portfolio
Reflective Practice
Small-group reflective practice with an Academy Scholar — not shadowing.
Half-day every three to four weeks (not weekly), in a small group with an Academy Scholar as your tutor. Plus periodic one-on-one progress review meetings where the Scholar coaches you on your learning plan. Pass/fail. Less about content, more about making sense of what you're learning across all the other streams. The reflections, sign-offs, and progress meetings are tracked in Elentra.
ICE: FMLE
Family Medicine Longitudinal Experience
Year 2 longitudinal placement in a family medicine practice.
Begins in second year. Pairs you with a family physician you visit periodically across the year, building continuity with a community-based practice. Different from EEE shadowing (which is shorter and self-initiated) and from ICE: HC placements (which are community-organization-based, not physician-based).
CEE
Community Engaged Experience
The actual placement visits inside ICE: HC.
Four placement types across the two years: LTC (long-term care, ~1 visit), IDD (intellectual & developmental disabilities, ~1 visit), Flex (self-directed placements at community organizations, ~3–4 visits), and a longitudinal CBSL site (Community-Based Service Learning — one agency you return to ~4–5 times). All logged on MedSIS. Geographic restrictions apply: St. George students place within Toronto; MAM students place within Mississauga / GTA outside the City of Toronto.
EEE
Enriching Educational Experience
Self-initiated shadowing — short observerships you arrange yourself.
Lives under ICE: CAP. You email a physician (often via the MedSIS CAP catalogue or through tutors), arrange a half-day observership, and log it on MedSIS. Must be registered in advance — at least three weeks ahead for non-TAHSN sites, so the placement agreement can be put in place. You can't start shadowing until after the orientation seminar in October. Some EEE completion is required by the end of second year.
OSCE
Objective Structured Clinical Examination
Practical exam where you rotate through stations performing clinical tasks.
Each station is timed (8–10 min) and assessed by a physician examiner. End of major blocks and end of pre-clerkship. Predictable; preparation with classmates is the standard approach.
Academy
Clinical Home Base
Your home base for clinical learning. UofT MD has four.
FitzGerald (St. Mike's / St. Joe's), Peters-Boyd (Sunnybrook / Women's College / North York General), Wightman-Berris (UHN-anchored — TGH, TWH, Mount Sinai, plus community sites), and MAM (Mississauga Hospital / Credit Valley). Assigned, not chosen. One of the strongest predictors of where you'll spend clinical time.
CaRMS
Resident Matching
The national algorithm that matches graduating students to residency programs.
Far away in year 1 but quietly shapes decisions throughout. Electives, research, reference letters, and personal statements all feed into your CaRMS file.
Elentra
Curriculum System
The MD Program's curriculum management system.
Where you'll find your schedule, complete EEEs, submit assessments, and track competencies. You'll live in this system. Bookmark it.
Your academy assignment is given, not chosen. It anchors most of your clinical learning for four years.
Downtown core. Compact footprint — both teaching hospitals are walking distance from each other and from MSB.
Primary hospitals
Insider: CBL and ICE sessions are held in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Mike's.
North Toronto, anchored at Sunnybrook. The longest commute of the four academies — most students take subway + bus.
Primary hospitals
The biggest hospital network of the four — UHN-anchored, with sites stretching from downtown to the east and west ends.
Primary hospitals (Y1–Y2)
Additional sites (Y3+)
Insider: WB students get a dedicated lounge at Toronto General.
Located at the UTM campus. Different city, different commute math — most students live in Mississauga.
Primary hospitals
Academy & Campus Transfers
Academy and campus assignments are binding for four years, but transfers do exist for students whose circumstances change — typically related to caregiving responsibilities, health, or significant family situations. Transfers aren't competitive in the way Carms is, but they're not casual: the program reviews each request individually, and reasons that hold up are documented and grounded in genuine need rather than preference. If you're considering it, the OLA team is the right first conversation — they can help you understand whether a transfer is realistic for your situation before you formally apply.
If you've been placed at the Mississauga Academy, your daily geography is different. This is the practical stuff — buildings, parking, and how to get downtown when you need to.
UTM is a big campus. For MAM students, the practical map is small: three buildings within a two-minute walk of each other, plus the hospitals.
Your home building. The big lecture room on the first floor is where your class meets; small-group rooms on the second floor are reserved for MD and OT students. The cadaver lab is on the fourth floor.
The second-floor lounge
Insider: The ping pong table was crowdfunded by the 2T9 MAMers — it's a recent addition. Late-night study sessions here are a thing.
The hub of UTM. Food court, coffee, and the gym you'll have access to (also where intramurals happen). When you need to leave TDHSC for a minute, you come here.
Houses the UTM Library — a nice change of scenery from TDHSC — plus a few food options and coffee. Prayer room on the second floor.
You won't have clinical skills sessions here, but you may shadow here. Some third-year clerkship rotations for MAM also take place at Queensway.
A few logistics that catch every new MAM cohort off guard.
Parking
You'll get an email in the summer to purchase a parking pass. Most MAM students buy the MAM-specific pass — it's discounted (~$600), runs late-August to end of May, and gets you into lots P4 and P8. Both are a 2–3 minute walk to TDHSC.
Parking at the hospitals (MH, CVH) works differently — ask Phoebe or a MAM upper-year for the current rates.
MiWay
Mississauga's transit system (MiWay) is included in your incidental fees. Worth using when you don't want to drive and don't need to be downtown. Routes 110 and 109 connect Square One to UTM directly — a key factor in where many MAMers choose to live.
Inter-site shuttle
There's a dedicated shuttle from UTM to Mississauga Hospital or Credit Valley Hospital on clinical skills mornings, returning to UTM after. A second shuttle runs between MH and CVH directly. You don't need to figure out parking at the hospital sites for these sessions.
You'll need to get downtown for O-Week and occasionally during the year. Four options, ranked by how MAM students actually use them.
Picks up at the Instructional Centre at UTM and drops at Wetmore Hall on St. George. Bring your T-Card — the driver will check or scan it. First shuttle leaves UTM at 5:55 AM; last shuttle leaves St. George at 10:35 PM (Mon–Thu) or 9:35 PM (Fri).
Two things to know
Schedule: Always check utm.utoronto.ca/shuttle — it changes between summer, term, and exam season.
Two lines serve Mississauga. The Lakeshore West line (Clarkson and Port Credit GO) is closest to UTM — Clarkson to Union is 35–40 minutes. The Milton line serves Dixie, Cooksville, Erindale, Streetsville, and Meadowvale. From Union, take Line 1 to Queen's Park for MSB (~10–15 min).
Service hours
Kipling is the westernmost Line 2 station, ~20–35 min drive from UTM. From St. George, take Line 1 north to St. George or Spadina, transfer to Line 2 west to Kipling. Subway runs until ~2 AM. Once at Kipling, you'll need an Uber or a friend with a car to get the rest of the way home.
Self-explanatory. Coordinate with classmates after late events, split the cost, skip the transit gymnastics. Most useful after Friday Boat Formal or any night that runs past the last GO Train.
Most of student life at UofT MD runs through three layers: the two governing councils, identity-based community groups, and dozens of interest groups for specialty exploration. Each community group is run by current students — content is filled in by the group's reps. Submit updates via Feedback.
Every UofT MD student is automatically a member of both. They handle different scopes — one runs your year, the other runs the school.
Council · Per cohort
Your cohort's elected leadership — runs class-specific events, social fund, formal, charity initiatives, and acts as the bridge between your year and the MD Program. Elections happen each fall in M1 and again in M2/M3 as roles rotate. Full role breakdown below.
Council · School-wide
The school-wide student government — represents all four classes to the Faculty, the OMA, and OMSA. Runs school-wide initiatives, advocacy, and large events. MedSoc executive is elected school-wide; class reps connect MedSoc back to each cohort. Most issues that affect the whole student body — schedule changes, exam policy, learner-affairs concerns — go through here.
Detailed content pending — MedSoc executive to fill in.
Class Council · Role Map
General leadership, hospital and academy reps, and educational portfolios mapped to specific parts of the curriculum. Most positions are filled by election in the fall of M1.
Class Presidents
Mississauga Academy (MAM)
Wightman-Berris Academy
Peters-Boyd Academy
FitzGerald Academy
Social & Athletic
Educational & Academic Portfolios
Charity Committee
Faith-based and cultural communities active in the cohort. Each is run by current students; reach out via the cohort Discord for current contacts.
Religious · Abrahamic
Prayer space coordination, Jummah on campus, Ramadan support, and community events. Resources for hijabi students in clinical environments. See the Prayer spaces directory below — compiled and maintained by MMAC.
Detailed content pending — reps to fill in.
Religious · Abrahamic
Community, high-holiday programming, and a network across UofT and partner schools.
Detailed content pending — reps to fill in.
Religious · Abrahamic
Catholic, Protestant, and other Christian denominations represented through informal and formal groups.
Detailed content pending — reps to fill in.
Religious
Community and cultural programming.
Detailed content pending — reps to fill in.
Cultural
Community, mentorship, and advocacy for Black medical students. Active across UofT and partners with peer organizations at other schools.
Detailed content pending — reps to fill in.
Cultural
Cultural community and mentorship.
Detailed content pending — reps to fill in.
Cultural
Cultural community spanning the South Asian diaspora.
Detailed content pending — reps to fill in.
Designated prayer rooms across the hospital network and on campus, compiled by MMAC. Anyone is welcome to use them — share the locations forward when you find them.
Compiled by MMAC. If a room has moved or a code has changed, submit an update via Feedback.
Identity-based community groups offering peer support, advocacy, and mentorship.
Affinity
Community, advocacy, and mentorship for 2SLGBTQ+ students.
Detailed content pending — reps to fill in.
Affinity
Advocacy, community, and accommodations support for medical students with disabilities.
Detailed content pending — reps to fill in.
Specialty-specific clubs run by upper-year students, with talks, panels, shadowing leads, and research connections.
UofT MD has dozens of specialty interest groups — one for nearly every major medical and surgical specialty, plus several for cross-cutting interests. They're a low-commitment way to explore a specialty before clerkship: most run a couple of events per year, some host shadowing matchmaking, and many maintain mentor lists with residents and staff.
Examples of groups that have been active in recent years
Active groups vary by year — some go quiet when their leads graduate, new ones spin up in any specialty with student demand. Watch class-wide emails and Discord channels in September for the year's roster, and don't hesitate to start one if a specialty you care about isn't represented.
Medical school is hard in ways that aren't always visible. The Faculty has support built in — most of it free, all of it confidential, none of it requires you to be in crisis to use. The earlier you know these exist, the easier it is to reach out when you need to.
Primary support · Free
OLA is your dedicated support office throughout the MD Program — academic, personal, and wellbeing concerns all start here. The team includes faculty advisors, a learning strategist, and dedicated counsellors. Confidential by default; nothing said to OLA is shared with the program or your evaluators.
OLA homepageCounselling · Free
Free counselling specifically for medical students, embedded within OLA. You can self-refer — no need for a faculty referral or a "good enough" reason. The counsellors understand the specific pressures of MD training, which makes a real difference compared to general university counselling.
Book / learn moreUniversity-wide
General medical care, mental health services, and same-day appointments for UofT students. Useful for anything OLA isn't directly handling — physical illness, prescriptions, longer-term therapy referrals.
studentlife.utoronto.caCrisis · 24/7
Free 24/7 phone and chat counselling, available in multiple languages. Confidential. No appointment needed. 1-844-451-9700 or via the My SSP app.
My SSP detailsA quiet reminder
Reaching out before you're in crisis is easier than reaching out during one. If something is off — sleep is wrong, motivation has dropped, you're crying more than you used to, you can't focus, you've stopped enjoying things — that's a reason to call OLA. Not because you have to "earn" support by being unwell enough, but because that's what they're there for.
Two organizations you'll hear about often — one for medical students, one for practicing physicians (with a student tier). Both come with practical perks beyond advocacy.
The provincial body representing all six Ontario medical schools. Membership is automatic for UofT MD students — there is no separate sign-up.
The provincial physician association. Medical students join free as Student Members and gain access to a surprising amount of practical infrastructure.
Medical school is hard. Burnout, anxiety, and impostor syndrome are not just possible — they're statistically common. The Faculty has built support infrastructure specifically for this. Use it earlier than you think you need to. None of this affects your academic record.
First call · Confidential
Your dedicated Faculty support office. Confidential one-on-one meetings with learner affairs counsellors and physician advisors who specifically understand the medical-school context. Academic concerns, personal issues, accommodation requests, mistreatment, financial stress — anything affecting your ability to be a student. Conversations with OLA are confidential and do not appear in your academic record.
Visit the OLA siteResource hub
The Faculty's curated directory of mental health and wellness resources for medical students — counselling services, urgent help, peer support, equity and identity-specific resources, and external partners. Bookmark this; the right resource depends on what you're navigating.
Browse the directoryMost of medical school happens across half a dozen platforms. None of them talk to each other particularly well. Bookmark all of them the day you get your UTORid — and don't be surprised when something has to be done in a system you've never opened before.
Curriculum hub
The canonical curriculum platform. Daily timetable, lecture slides, pre-readings, CBL cases, ICE assignments, and Portfolio submissions all live here. This is the source of truth for "what's happening tomorrow" — if Elentra and a classmate disagree, trust Elentra.
Student record
UofT's central student information system — used by every faculty, not just MD. Where you handle anything tied to your enrolment, fees, and official records. Most MD-specific academic content lives elsewhere; ACORN is for the bureaucracy.
Clinical / placements
The MD Program's clinical learning record system. Tracks your placements, clinical assessments, and longitudinal records across pre-clerkship and clerkship. Onboarding modules in M1 are also delivered here.
Portfolio
The system used for Portfolio submissions and reflective work. Your reflections, supervisor sign-offs, and Portfolio milestones all sync here. Pass/fail, but consistent neglect adds up.
Marks & progression
Your overall progression view in the MD Program — assessments, ME results, OSCE scores, completion of mandatory components. The closest thing to a "transcript" view of your medical school progress.
Quizzes & review
Web portal where you view your exam results and review questions after the fact. Result release timing is set by the Faculty per assessment.
Exam app
The lockdown browser app where Mastery Exercises (MEs) actually run. Install it on your laptop early in M1 — don't wait until your first ME week. The Faculty sends activation instructions via email.
Course content (some)
UofT's central learning management system (Canvas-based). Most MD content is on Elentra, but a handful of UofT-wide courses, electives, and shared modules surface here. Worth checking after you enrol — you'll know if a course uses it because it'll show up in your dashboard.
Faculty index page
All of the above (and a few minor systems) are listed on the Faculty's official index, which gets updated as platforms change.
Student Tools & eResources
