Surgical Foundations

SurginalFoundations

INTRODUCTION TO SURGICAL FOUNDATIONS

Surgical Foundations (SF) is a Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada accredited residency program which runs alongside, or parallel to the main surgical specialty programs. For the first 2 years of residency, residents are automatically enrolled in the Surgical Foundations Residency Program in addition to one of the Specialty programs listed below:

The University of Toronto Surgical Foundations Program is the largest in Canada with approximately 65 residents per year. Dr Mark Wheatcroft is the Program Director for Surgical Foundations and the Postgraduate assistant is Helen Nguyen. Please do not hesitate to reach out to pgme.surgery@utoronto.ca with any questions, issues or concerns.

Prep Camp

The SF program commences early July with an Induction day followed by Prep-Camp; an intensive hands on practical course held at the Mount Sinai Hospital Surgical Skills Centre and coordinated by Lisa Satterthwaite, SSC Consultant and Shunne Leung, SSC Senior Manager.

SF Lecture Series

The Surgical Foundations Lecture Series commences at the start of September, is held every Tuesday morning from 8:00am to 11:30am, and runs for the rest of the academic year. Topics covered include those listed by the Royal College as core knowledge requirements and also topics relating to clinical care and professional development. Currently a hybrid system of virtual and in-person lectures is used. An attendance score of 75% is required to pass the Surgical Foundations course, with full details of how this is achieved being described in the Surgical Foundations Handbook.

QI Project

Residents are divided into small groups and through a series of lectures and home work, are guided through a QI project of their own design. This takes place over the course of the PGY1 year and culminates in submission of a completed project together with a presentation day where all projects are presented and judged by a panel, the three best project presentations are awarded as “winners”.

Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)

An entrustable professional activity or “EPA” is a defined task deemed essential to be competent in for the Specialty. Each EPA is made up of a selection of Milestones which are definable individual skills. Surgical Foundations has its own set of EPAs set out by the Royal College. Residents must complete all SF EPAs in order to complete the program. EPA completion is one set of data that is closely monitored for each resident by the Competence Committee.

Surgical Foundations Practice Exam

The SF practice exam is created independent to, but in the same style (MCQ) as the formal Royal College Surgical Foundations Exam. It is created by the Canadian SF Programs to provide residents with a method of assessing their knowledge acquisition and preparation for the formal exam. It is generally held towards the end of the PGY1 academic year (May / June). A pass is not required to pass the SF program.

Royal College Surgical Foundations Exam

The Royal College SF exam requires that you register for eligibility to take the exam and that you pay the appropriate fees. Registration and fee payment are the sole responsibility of the resident. It is mandatory to pass the SF exam to be eligible to take the final FRCSC exam, but it is not required to pass the Surgical Foundations stage of training. It is therefore not a requirement to progress to Core of Discipline. Click here for details.

The following are key components of the SF program:

  1. Prep Camp
  2. SF Lecture Series
  3. QI Project
  4. Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)
  5. SF Practice Exam
  6. Royal College SF Exam

SURGICAL FOUNDATIONS LECTURES SERIES

Tipsheet.pdf

Surgical Foundations Lecture Series 2025 - 2026

Full schedule in PDF here

Date Time Topic Speaker Location Notes
9-Sep-25 8:00 - 8:15am Introduction to Surgical Foundations Mark Wheatcroft, Alysha Nensi Zoom  
9-Sep-25 8:15 - 8:30am Office of Learner Affairs Introduction Jory Simpson Zoom  
9-Sep-25 8:30 - 9:30am Management of On Call Scenarios Brandon Van Asseldonk Zoom  
9-Sep-25 9:30 - 11:00am Pre-Operative Medical Problems I Yash Patel Zoom  
16-Sep-25 8:30 - 9:30am CBD and Elentra refresher/Q&A Justin Fletcher Zoom  
16-Sep-25 9:30 - 10:30am Nutrition and Surgery Vickie Hiltz Zoom  
23-Sep-25 8:30 - 10:00am ABG (Arterial Blood Gas) Shane Shapera MSH Auditorium  
23-Sep-25 10:00 - 11:30am Trauma Brent Hopkins MSH Auditorium  
30-Sep-25 8:00 - 9:30am Post-Operative Medical Problems II Yash Patel Zoom  
30-Sep-25 9:30 - 11:00am Quality Improvement OR sustainability Sarah Ward Zoom  
7-Oct-25 8:30 - 11:30am Quality Improvement Curriculum I Sarah Ward LKS Room 136  
21-Oct-25 8:00 - 9:30am SIRS and Sepsis Alberto Goffi Zoom  
21-Oct-25 9:30 - 11:00am Antibiotic Stewardship Linda Taggart Zoom  
28-Oct-25 8:00 - 9:30am Anaesthesia I - Peri-operative Management of Acute
Pain
Natalie Clavel Zoom  
28-Oct-25 9:30 - 11:00am Foundations Exam Prep I Mark Wheatcroft Zoom  
4-Nov-25 8:30 - 10:00am Palliative Care for a Surgeon and an Introduction to
MAID
Jonathan Ailon LKS Room 241  
4-Nov-25 10:00 - 11:30am Transitioning to Surgical I Heather Flett + facilitator(s) LKS Room 241 LKS Room 212, 213, 214, 215,
217
11-Nov-25   Resident Development Day 2025      
18-Nov-25 8:00 - 11:30am Resident meetings Mark Wheatcroft, Alysha Nensi Zoom  
25-Nov-25 8:30 - 10:00am Thromboembolic Disease William Geerts MSH Auditorium  
2-Dec-25 8:00 - 10:00am Resident meetings Mark Wheatcroft, Alysha Nensi Zoom  
2-Dec-25 10:00 - 11:15am Surgeon in Society: Global Surgery Mojgan Hodaie, Eisha Christian Zoom  
9-Dec-25 8:30 - 10:00am Wound Care and Wound Healing Elisa Greco, Melinda Musgrave LKS Room 216  
9-Dec-25 10:00 - 11:30am Transitioning to Surgical II Heather Flett + facilitator(s) LKS Room 216 LKS Room 212, 213, 214, 215,
217
16-Dec-25 8:00 - 11:30am Resident meetings Mark Wheatcroft, Alysha Nensi Zoom  
23-Dec-25   Holiday Break      
6-Jan-26 8:00 - 9:15am Perioperative Geriatrics Camilla Wong Zoom  
13-Jan-26 8:30 - 10:00am Ethics I Sunit Das LKS Auditorium  
13-Jan-26 10:00 - 11:30am Indigenous health I Ryan Giroux, Nadia McLaren LKS Auditorium LKS Room 211, 212, 213, 214,
215, 217
20-Jan-26 8:00am - 9:30am Ventilators Christie Lee Zoom  
20-Jan-26 9:30-11:00am Foundations Exam Prep II Mark Wheatcroft Zoom  
27-Jan-26 8:30 - 10:00am Indigenous health II Ryan Giroux, Nadia McLaren LKS Auditorium  
27-Jan-26 10:00 - 11:30am Ethics II Sunit Das LKS Auditorium  
3-Feb-26 8:00 - 9:00 am Global Health Rachel Spitzer Zoom  
3-Feb-26 9:00 - 10:00am Entrepreneurship and Innovation Dale Podolsky, Sam Keshen, Jas Chahal, Alex Koven, Ori Rotstein Zoom  
3-Feb-26 10:00 - 11:30 am Clinical Pearls in Symptom Management and
Palliative Care
Anand Govindarajan Zoom  
10-Feb-26 8:30 - 11:30am Quality Improvement Curriculum II Sarah Ward To be confirmed  
17-Feb-26 8:30 - 10:00am Office of Learner Affairs - Learner Wellness and
Mistreatment Resources
Meeta Patel, Shaheen Darani LKS Auditorium  
17-Feb-26 10:00 - 11:30am Transitioning to Surgical III Heather Flett + facilitator(s) LKS Auditorium LKS Room 211, 212, 213, 214,
215, 217
24-Feb-26 8:00 - 9:30am Biostatistics I Katherine Lajkosz Zoom  
24-Feb-26 9:30-11:00am Coagulation Natasha Rupani Zoom  
10-Mar-26 8:00 - 9:30am Anaesthesia II - Management of Chronic Pain Neilesh Soneji Zoom  
10-Mar-26 9:30 - 12:00pm Specialty meetings Mark Wheatcroft, Alysha Nensi Zoom  
17-Mar-26   March break      
24-Mar-26 10:00 - 11:30am Surgeon in Society talk: Indigenous healthcare Mary Macdonald LKS Room 240/241  
31-Mar-26 8:00 - 9:30am Medical Oncology Susanna Cheng Zoom  
31-Mar-26 9:30 - 11:00am Radiation Oncology To be confirmed Zoom To be confirmed
7-Apr-26 8:30 - 10:00am Abdominal Compartment Syndrome and Lower Limb
Compartment Syndrome
Miranda Witheford LKS Auditorium  
7-Apr-26 10:00 - 11:30am Health Advocacy Anna Dare, Amanpreet Brar,
Dominique Vervoort
LKS Auditorium  
14-Apr-26 9:30am - 11:30am Foundations Exam Prep III Mark Wheatcroft Zoom  
21-Apr-26 8:30 - 10:00am Transplant Blayne Sayed LKS Room 240/241  
21-Apr-26 10:00 - 11:30am Ethics III/IV Sunit Das LKS Room 240/241  
28-Apr-26 8:30 -11:30am Resident Leadership Dhruvin Hirpara LKS Room 240/241  
5-May-26 9:00 -11:30am Delirium/Competence/Forms/Psychiatric Issues in
the Peri-Operative Period
Lu Gao MSH Auditorium  
12-May-26 8:30 - 10:00am Biostatistics II Katherine Lajkosz LKS Auditorium  
12-May-26 10:00 - 11:30am Transitioning to Surgical IV Heather Flett + facilitator(s) LKS Auditorium LKS Room 212, 213, 214, 215,
217
19-May-26 4:30 - 8:00pm QUALITY IMPROVEMENT CURRICULUM PRESENTATIONS Sarah Ward Faculty Club of UofT,
Wedgewood Dining Room
 
26-May-26 9:00 - 11:00am Foundations Exam Prep IV Mark Wheatcroft Zoom  
2-Jun-26 8:30-11:30am Foundations Practice Exam Mark Wheatcroft MSB  
9-Jun-26   No lecture      
16-Jun-26   No lecture      
23-Jun-26 8:30-11:30am Foundations Exam Review Mark Wheatcroft MSH Auditorium  
30-Jun-26   No lecture