In Undergraduate Medical Education, we have a diverse and dedicated teaching faculty committed to teaching our medical students, and to executing the challenge or delivering a curriculum and clinical rotations in English and French.

The Department of Psychiatry is deeply involved in the education of medical students at the University of Ottawa, through both didactic learning such as the Year 2, Unit 3 Psychiatry Block, as well as through various clinical rotations. In addition, Faculty members from the Department of Psychiatry participate in other teaching activities such as cased based learning and are involved in the mentorship program.

During 3rd year clerkship, students spend three(3) weeks of their six-week rotation in an adult psychiatry setting at either the General or Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital, the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, L'Hôpital Montfort. They also have a 1-week experience in each of Child Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry. As well, students can choose to complete their adult psychiatry rotation at one of our established DME sites or in a rural setting.  The rural setting is different in that the adult rotation is four(4) weeks instead of three(3).

Throughout the 6 weeks, students work on call with residents and staff at the Ottawa Hospital to gain experience in managing patients with psychiatric emergencies. Finally, students can review the assessment, diagnosis and management of patients with major psychiatric disorders from across the life span by attending half day teaching sessions each week.

Ottawa Psychiatry Enrichment Program (OPEP)

June 16th to June 20st, 2025 Ottawa, Ontario

A one-week program held at the end of the academic year for first and second year medical students from universities across Canada. During this week, students will be exposed to psychiatrists from various disciplines and backgrounds. Psychiatry is a fascinating and academically challenging specialty with a wide breadth of opportunity; some of the brightest and most accomplished physicians in Canada and the world are psychiatrists. OPEP is proud to have nationally and internationally recognized speakers involved, as well as younger faculty who are willing to share their experiences with medical students. Our speakers have won national awards from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, become Deans of Medicine, written national bestseller books, and even given TED talks, as well as many more accomplishments.

The week serves both an educational and social function and is meant to give those who have aninterest in psychiatry an opportunity to get a better feel for the specialty. For those who may beuncertain about a life as a psychiatrist, this week aims to provide a clearer model of what thatcareer could be like. By participating in this exciting Program, you will experience the widebreadth of experiences that are possible as a psychiatrist. Breakfast and lunch will be provided forthe week.

Each day of the program will consist of interactive virtual seminars, and elective placements. Theinteractive seminars will cover a wide-range of topics related to what it is like to be a psychiatrist,while in the elective placements you will actually experience the day-to-day challenges of practicein the field of psychiatry.

Applicants will be selected based on the merit of their application package and their demonstratedinterest in psychiatry. Students that are selected and complete the program will be awarded acertificate of completion. Our aim in offering these experiences is twofold: to expose students toreal life experiences of a psychiatrist and to introduce students to role models and even potentialmentors in the field of psychiatry.

To apply to this Program - fill the OPEP 2025 Form
Deadline to apply May 1st

For more information please contact [email protected]

Dr. Emily Fernandes
Director of Undergraduate Education Program
Department of Psychiatry
Faculty of Medicine
University of Ottawa

Program overview

As the only bilingual medical school in Ontario, the Department of Psychiatry has access to a full range of resources in both official languages. The Ottawa Hospital, consisting of the General and Civic sites, accounts for a combined 80 acute care beds each admitting through specialized psychiatric emergency services. Both hospitals also maintain outpatient and partial hospitalization programs, as well as providing consultation-liaison services to other inpatient services. The General site also has a well-established eating disorders (on-site) and first-episode psychosis (off- site) programs each with access to a flexible number of beds for patient admission. The Civic Site also provides dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT).

Francophone emergency and acute care admissions are provided by the Montfort Hospital. This hospital also provides outpatient, partial hospitalization, and dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) programs.

Stethoscope head lying on medical forms on clipboard closeup while medicine doctor working in background.

Child psychiatry is available at the partially bilingual Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), as well as in French at le Centre hospitalier Pierre-Janet in Gatineau. Both provide child and adolescent emergency, inpatient, and outpatient services with full multidisciplinary team access. CHEO also has multidisciplinary outpatient subspecialty teams including ADHD, Dual Disorders, Mood and Anxiety, and Neuropsychiatry.

Finally, the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (ROHCG) is a large dedicated psychiatric facility servicing south-eastern Ontario with Ottawa and Brockville sites. Subspecialty inpatient and outpatient services include schizophrenia, mood disorders, addictions, geriatrics, child and adolescent, and forensics. There are also outpatient anxiety and sleep disorders services, as well as partial hospitalization and school programs for youth and adolescents. Additionally, ACTT (Assertive Community Treatment Team) and Mental Health Outreach teams operate from the ROHCG.

Curriculum details

The first stage of psychiatric training is a three week period during the second year of medical school. It consists of core didactic lectures, small group case based learning, as well as protected time for elective placements in psychiatry. Entitled Psychiatry Block, the curriculum emphasizes the connections between brain, experience, and behaviour across the lifespan. The fundamentals of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment form the main learning objectives. However, considerable time is allocated to social, ethical and medico-legal issues encountered in the treatment of the mentally ill.

Stage II (clerkship) involves the acquisition of practical physician skills. The psychiatric rotation consists of 4 weeks of general adult psychiatry and 1 week each of child and geriatric psychiatry. Placements are complemented by a didactic lecture series. The 6 week rotation can be completed in French or English, as well as an option for doing a rural placement outside of Ottawa at one of our established DME sites. In addition, all students are expected to have on-call duties during their 6 week rotation for exposure to emergency psychiatry.

For more information on undergraduate psychiatry, please contact:

Khadije Sobh
Senior Undergraduate Education Coordinator
Undergraduate Education Program
Department of Psychiatry
[email protected]

FAQs

Administration

The "Undergraduate Education Committee" organizes the structure and learning objectives for medical students during their Mind Block (psychiatry), as well as the psychiatry rotation during clerkship. This includes organizing lecturers, creating content for the problem based learning modules, and setting exams.

Committee members include:

  • Dr. Emily Fernandes
    Program Director
  • Dr. Saumil Dholakia
    Anglophone Pre-Clerkship Director, Unit 3 Leader & Mind Content Expert
  • Dr. Kristine Levesque
    Francophone Clerkship Rotation Director
  • Dr. Tin Ngo-Minh
    Unit 3 Leader & Content Expert
  • Dr. Shehan Katuwapitiya
    Site Education Director, Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
  • Dr. Cong Thanh Nguyen
    Site Education Director, TOH General Campus
  • Dr. Gabrielle Constantin
    Site Education Director, TOH Civic Campus
  • Dr. Dhiraj Aggarwal
    Site Education Director, CHEO & Education Director, Division of Child Psychiatry Anglophone Clerkship Rotation Director
  • Dr. Soojin Chun
    Education Director, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry
  • Dr. Bronwyn Thomson
    Resident Representative
  • Dr. Paul Slodovnick
    Resident Representative
  • Marijke Cowick
    Francophone Undergraduate Program Coordinator
  • Khadije Sobh
    Anglophone Undergraduate Program Coordinator

Contact information

Khadije Sobh
Undergraduate Education Coordinator
Undergraduate Education Program
Department of Psychiatry
Room 5458 - 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1Z 7K4
613-722-6521 ext. 6811
E-mail: [email protected]