Clinician Scientist – Graduate Stream
The graduate stream of the Clinician Scientist Program (CSP) is intended for psychiatry residents in PGY-5, and potentially PGY-6 if in subspecialty residency training, who have a substantial interest in research and wish to pursue graduate school.
Residents will be eligible to apply to the graduate stream of the CSP when they are in their PGY-4 year. Applicants must be accepted into a thesis-based, graduate degree granting program and begin graduate work full time as of September of their PGY-5 year and are expected to complete at least a Master’s degree and encouraged to complete a PhD.
Applicants are encouraged to be enrolled in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons’ Clinician Investigator Program (CIP) while in the CSP. All CSP trainees are expected to participate in, and regularly attend, the CSP seminar series.
There are many graduate programs at the University of Toronto that may be suitable for CSP residents with respect to their graduate stream training. The Institute of Medical Sciences, the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, all offer excellent programs that may be of interest to CSP residents.
Tuition fees will be reimbursed by the CSP for successful applicants for thesis-based graduate research school training (MSc or PhD for a maximum of 2 years). Support will be provided to a maximum $8,000 per year for graduate training within the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies. For residents who present their CSP-related research at scientific meetings, reimbursement for travel expenses up to $1,500 is available annually for up to 2 years. There is also an expectation that applicants apply for and receive salary support to provide for at least one year of salary for the second year of the CSP, which will occur in a fellowship year post residency training. Note, for CSP graduate stream members who are in their post-residency year, tuition reimbursement will not apply for attending psychiatrists. For fellows there will be income verification to determine eligibility.
For simplicity, the below table details the tuition reimbursement based on entry point:
|
Resident |
Fellow |
|
|
Year 1 Tuition* |
Up to $8,000/full training year paid directly by Department if at UofT; reimbursed for other universities at the completion of the term |
Not Applicable |
|
Year 2 Tuition* |
Up to $8,000/full training year paid directly by Department if at UofT; reimbursed for other universities at the completion of the term |
Reimbursed at the end of the term, based on gross earnings in the same calendar year: - If gross earnings $100,000 or below: $8,000 - If gross earnings $100,001 - $149,999: $4,000 - If gross earnings $150,000 or above: $0 |
*If Masters/ PhD completed at another accredited institution, the same caps would apply as above
In order to coincide with a typical taxation year, the time period used for the gross income reporting period is January – December. To better illustrate, a detailed example follows:
Dr. Doe is in the final year of the graduate stream (graduated in June 2022 and is now a clinical fellow starting in July 2022).
2022 Fall Tuition – $4k of the tuition will be paid on behalf of Dr. Doe for the Fall 2022 semester.
2023 Winter Tuition – Upon submission of Dr. Doe’s gross professional income form (click here to obtain the form) the following tuition reimbursement options are possible:
2022 gross professional income $100k or below --> 4k tuition for the 2023 Winter semester fully paid for Dr. Doe
2022 gross professional income between 100k – 150k --> $0 tuition for 2023 Winter semester paid for Dr. Doe
2022 gross professional income great than 150k --> Dr. Doe to return $4k 2022 Fall tuition to the Department of Psychiatry.