Education: CAMH Annual Report 2003

CAMH Annual Report

For people working in addiction, mental health and related fields, CAMH offers training and development, including professional disciplines, postgraduate training, residencies, continuing professional education and continuing medical education.

Professional education

CAMH is the largest provider of professional education and training in mental health and addictions in Canada. Twenty-five per cent of all Canadian-trained psychiatrists are trained at the University of Toronto, and most of them have part of their training at CAMH.

This year, we provided training to 617 students, 10 per cent more than in 2001/2002, and 26 per cent more than in 2000/2001. They included:

112 in undergraduate medicine
320 in nursing
35 in social work
22 in occupational therapy
11 in addiction therapy
20 in psychology
57 psychiatry residents
15 family practice residents
25 others (includes dietitians, spiritual and religious caregivers, pharmacists, child and youth workers, and vocational rehabilitation counsellors).

Continuing professional education

CAMH is also one of Canada's largest providers of continuing professional and in-service education. In 2002/2003, we trained:

635 people in 27 continuing professional education courses in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
2,500 participants in 69 continuing professional education courses across Ontario (outside the GTA)
420 health care professionals in 13 continuing medical education courses.

Nearly 600 people attended our Concurrent Disorders Certificate Training Program, held in centres across Ontario. Almost 400 people took part in courses offered at our popular Summer Institutes in Toronto and Windsor.

Resources for health professionals

CAMH translates the knowledge gained from research into practical resources and tools for health professionals and the public. Among our most important this year were: Asking the Right Questions, a manual and assessment tool for addiction counsellors working with clients who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and transsexual; Managing Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Problems: A Pocket Guide for Physicians and Nurses, distributed to 8,500 health professionals across Ontario; and Can I Catch It like a Cold?, an educational resource in storybook format for parents, teachers and mental health professionals, which answers questions children have about depression.

Our Best Advice papers present the most up-to-date knowledge on emerging issues for health professionals, policy-makers and others working in mental health and addiction. Our most recent additions include: Reducing the Harms of Alcohol-Related Collisions and CAMH Housing Discussion Paper.

E-learning coming soon

This year CAMH has focused on developing on-line courses to better meet the needs of mental health and addiction practitioners and allied professionals across Ontario. Providing services province-wide is an important part of our mandate; capacity building and sharing knowledge are priorities.