CPD 2015
Leadership, Innovation and Community Engagement

In 2015 the University of Toronto Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses and conferences provided leading education to a broad spectrum of health professionals. Learning opportunities offered by CPD attracted a global inter-professional audience with almost 40 000 learners from Canada and abroad participating in more than 380 accredited courses and conferences. Alumni from the Faculty of Medicine at U of T were part of this group of engaged learners. Over 8250 University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine alumni return annually to learn through CPD because they understand the high quality and value of our programs. Our dedicated group of CPD leaders, courses directors and staff provided exceptional service in creating and running innovative programs to drive change and improve healthcare.

This year CPD also partnered with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to build knowledge, skills and a common language in quality improvement through the IDEAS (Improving and Driving Excellence Across Sectors) program. Enhancing the inter-professional approach to care was also a focus with the advanced clinician practitioner in arthritis care program (ACPAC). On a national scale, Dr. Anna Banerji, Director for Global and Indigenous Health, brought together an inter-professional group of health practitioners, community members and the public with refugee and indigenous health care conferences. CPD has also been at the forefront of quality of care issues creating innovative programs to address critical health care matters such as safe opioid prescribing.

In addition to the successes in education, CPD has seen some changes in leadership this year. Dr. Dimitri Anastakis stepped down as Vice Dean of CPD in June 2015 after three years of dedicated service. During his tenure, he brought fiscal responsibility to the portfolio and promoted academic excellence, leadership and innovation for our faculty and in all our courses and conferences. I would like to thank him for his outstanding leadership of this portfolio.

Dr. Salvatore Spadafora was appointed Vice Dean of Post MD Education in July 2015. Associate Deans of Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) and Continuing Professional Development were added to the team. I am thrilled to assume the responsibility of Associate Dean CPD. In this role, I will continue to advance the field of CPD through promoting scholarship, collaboration and engagement with our educational leaders, community of learners, patients and the public.

The next five years will see tremendous change in our field as we integrate new technologies for learning, incorporate workplace and team-based learning into everyday practice and utilize quality improvement and patient safety data to drive performance improvement and advance the care of our patients and populations.

This annual report presents CPD’s stories of leadership, innovations, scholarship and engagement with our community throughout 2015. Please share your thoughts and comments with me on Twitter @uoftcpd #CPDar15

Suzan Schneeweiss MD, MEd, FRCPC

Facts & Figures

CPD is Canada's largest provider of continuing education programs for health care professionals. Attracting local, national and international audiences, our programs are the choice for those who want to learn from the best.


The Continuum of Medical Education

The education continuum from Graduate to Post Graduate to Continuing Professional Development


CPD’s Community of Learners

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