Rehabilitation Sciences Sector Diversity Mentorship Program
The Rehabilitation Sciences Sector (RSS) recognizes that learners in MScOT, MScPT and MHSc-SLP programs who come from social, cultural, and/or economically diverse communities face increased barriers in their academic and career journeys. Many recommendations and calls to action highlight how invaluable mentorship is in creating a welcoming, inclusive and safe community.
The RSS Diversity Mentorship Program (DMP) aims to address these needs for connection. Current learners can apply to be matched with a clinician mentor who is able to support in their educational and professional development.
This program is open to MScOT, MScPT and MHScSLP students from social, cultural, and or economically diverse communities.
The main purpose of the RSS Diversity Mentorship Program is to help ensure that learners from socially, culturally or economically diverse communities can explore their full potential as students and as future health care professionals. Learner mentees who are matched with a mentor are then encouraged to take leadership in the relationship, to ensure that they are able to get the most value from their experience.
The program components include:
Attend a Welcome Orientation/Training event (in-person and online options available)
Co-create a mentorship agreement which clearly states role, responsibilities, objectives and expectations of the mentorship relationship. Mentorship agreements cover the period between November 2024 to the end of July 2025
Invest, at the very least, 2 hours of meeting time with your assigned mentor/mentee for each term of the academic year. This may be done in a variety of agreed upon methods, including phone calls and video chats
Respond to requests for progress and updates from the Office of Learner Affairs in each term
Provide feedback for the purposes of evaluating the RSS DMP program at the midpoint and closing of the program
Option to join additional events/activities
Connections within the mentorship can be done through in-person meetings, phone calls, video chats, or other agreed upon forms of remote communication.
Mentorship supports, including the RSS DMP, are now administered by the Office of Learner Affairs (OLA), which offers additional resources to support the continued development of the program. The Office of Inclusion & Diversity (OID) will continue as an advisory support during the transition of the RSS DMP to the OLA, along with being available as a resource to all DMP participants.
For Learner Mentees
The application for mentees is now open from Monday, October 21, 2024 to Monday, November 11, 2024.
Please apply via the link below or contact medicine.dmp@utoronto.ca. Please be attentive to your U of T email inboxes for the most up-to-date information.
We welcome mentor applications from clinicians who come from social, cultural and/or economically diverse communities, as well as critical allies. Mentor roles can serve as part of teaching commitments and contribute to teaching dossiers when applying or reapplying for status appointment at the University of Toronto. This is currently a volunteer opportunity.
Please complete by Monday, November 11, 2024.
Please apply via the link below or contact medicine.dmp@utoronto.ca. If there is no match available in 2024-25, with your permission your submission can be kept on file to reach out for a match in the following year.
