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About SEME

What is SEME?

The Supplemental Emergency Medicine Experience (SEME) program is an innovative fellowship funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) and administered through the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto.  The SEME program offers a full-time three month clinical immersion in emergency medicine and presents a learning structure that is practical and relevant.  It is designed for physicians practicing comprehensive family medicine in smaller and rural communities and provides a unique opportunity for comprehensive skills enhancement in emergency medicine.
 
The SEME program was created in 2012 by Drs. Shirley Lee, Eric Letovsky, and Howard Ovens, in collaboration with the DFCM at the University of Toronto and the Ontario MOHLTC. To date, the SEME program has successfully trained 198 family physicians providing them with enhanced skills in emergency medicine. In 2020, the Ontario MOHLTC approved another five years of funding for the SEME Program which included the creation of a satellite site in Thunder Bay. This satellite site will provide a much needed training option closer to home for Northern Ontario physicians. The Ontario SEME Program is the first of its kind in Canada and has been accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. In 2017, the Nanaimo Emergency Education Program, a rural EM training program based on the SEME model was launched in Nanaimo, B.C.

VIDEO: Click here to watch a quick 5 min video about SEME

What is SEME?

Our Mission

The mission of the SEME Program is to provide a practical training option for practicing family physicians wishing to enhance their emergency medicine skills, thereby increasing recruitment and retention of physicians providing emergency care in rural and semi-rural communities.  The SEME Program is centralized and administered at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.  A key factor in the success of the program is the collaborative teaching efforts of the fourteen University of Toronto affiliated hospital sites, the Rural Ontario Medical Program teaching sites and over 300 faculty including emergency physicians, intensivists, anesthesiologists, and trauma surgeons.

Winner of the 2022 CFPC Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program Award 

In recognition of its innovative teaching strategies; value to family medicine; and exceptional learning experience; SEME is the proud recipient of the 2022 CFPC CPD Program award.

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Award winning program

The SEME program is the proud recipient of multiple awards which highlight the program’s outstanding curriculum and innovative design.

2022 College of Family Physicians of Canada 2022 CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Program Award

2016 Wightman-Berris Academy, Anderson Award for Program Innovation and Development, University of Toronto

 

2014 Excellence in Course/Program Development and Coordination Award, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto

Dr. Shirley Lee receives the Anderson Award for Program Innovation and Development (left)

Nancy Medeiros, SEME Program Coordinator since 2012 is presented with the 2019 Staff Excellence Award by the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto. (right)

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Meet Our Faculty

Click photo for full faculty profile

Co-Program Director

Co-Program Director

SEME Coordinator

Thunder Bay Site Director

Faculty

Affiliated Sites

Learn more about our affiliated sites for emergency medicine, trauma, ICU and anesthesia rotations.

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