Reflecting on Dr. Jeannette Goguen's impactful role as a medical education leader

Dr. Jeannette Goguen has donned many hats throughout her career in medicine. Since July 2016, she has been the Internal Medicine Residency Program Director (IM PD) in the Department of Medicine, in addition to being a professor in the department and a staff endocrinologist at St. Michael’s Hospital.

Dr. Goguen was just 20 years old when she started medical school at the University of Toronto (U of T). She graduated as the silver medalist in 1987 before entering the university’s internal medicine residency program.

“I was drawn to internal medicine because it really requires using knowledge and deductive abilities to solve problems,” she says.

Dr. Goguen had her first comprehensive exposure to endocrinology at the end of her postgraduate year 2 (PGY-2) of internal medicine and quickly realized it was her calling.

“As endocrinologists, we use all the data we get from the patient’s history, physical examination and laboratory tests to make a tentative diagnosis based on the hormonal pathways. There are so many replacement therapies that we have access to that make a huge difference in people’s lives,” she says.

“It is also great forming longitudinal relationships. Many of the patients I’ve treated, I’ve been following for several years and it’s wonderful to see an 18-year-old grow up into an adult and have a family of their own.”

After her residency training, Dr. Goguen began to pursue graduate work in molecular biology. However, her love of teaching encouraged her to change paths in order to pursue a career as a clinician educator.  She earned a Master of Education degree from U of T’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 2001, opening the door to her becoming a faculty member in the university’s Department of Medicine (DoM).

“I enjoy the intellectual challenge of working within the academic hospitals and find that working collaboratively with trainees and other physicians is very satisfying,” she says.

Dr. Goguen’s role in medical education leadership began in 2007 when she took on the role of Endocrinology Residency Program Director, and later served as the DoM's Director of Postgraduate Subspecialty Programs from 2011 – 2016.

“I love being a Program Director and think it’s the best match for my abilities and interests, so when the IM PD role came up, although I knew it would be a great challenge, I wanted to take it on,” she says.

Some of Dr. Goguen’s priorities throughout her time as IM PD included preparing for three accreditation reviews by the Royal College, as well as implementing Competence by Design (CBD), an outcomes-based postgraduate medical education initiative that emphasizes the achievement of educational milestones incorporated under subspecialty-specific “entrustable professional activities" (EPAs).

“A major focus of CBD is providing timely resident feedback and assessment at each stage of training, so we developed several resources that now live on our department’s website. We then had to teach both residents and faculty how to use them effectively,” she says. “That’s still an ongoing process and we’ve been constantly adjusting our strategy based on faculty and resident feedback.”

In 2014, Dr. Goguen’s commitment to educational excellence garnered recognition when she received the Certificate of Merit Award from the Canadian Association of Medical Education. She has also received teaching awards from the DoM’s Division of Endocrinology for both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

“To be an effective teacher, I think it’s important to get to know your learners including what their needs are, and then decide together how to address those needs,” she says. “I aim to provide a positive work and learning environment where they feel comfortable reaching out if they have questions or concerns. I would also say I’ve become a better teacher from having the opportunity to watch my IM colleagues teach.”

One of Dr. Goguen’s most memorable moments from her role as IM PD was at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She and her husband had just returned from travelling in Mexico. Immediately upon their return home, a faculty member reached out to suggest moving the residents’ academic half day from in-person to virtual, which was a novel idea.

Within a day, the academic half days and all program meetings had been changed to virtual for the safety of faculty and trainees. As well, the landscape of patient care changed dramatically, with stringent safety measures being implemented in hospital and outpatient care being moved to largely virtual care for the next few years.

“I’m proud of how we managed during that time, assuring the continuation of our trainees’ education despite these sudden shifts in patient care models,” she says. “Communication within the leadership of the program quickly ramped up to daily meetings for several weeks. I continue to meet virtually with the IM administrative team twice weekly and meet virtually with site directors, hospital education coordinators and Chief Medical Residents (CMRs) at least once a week on Zoom – this experience has changed how we work.”

Dr. Goguen’s last day as IM PD will be December 31, 2023. After leaving her role, she plans to continue her clinical practice, focusing on her clinical and scholarly interests such as an enhanced program of care for patients with pituitary disease, as well as spending time with her husband, mother, children and cats.

“I’ve worked in the DoM for almost 16 years and the best part about it has been all the people whom I’ve met and been able to work with,” she says.

She also notes: “I’ve had the opportunity to provide career mentorship to over 500 trainees over that time. That’s been one of the most satisfying parts of the role, along with problem solving and creating solutions as a team with the Site Directors, Program Leads, CMRs, the IM team, Hospital Education Coordinators, our clinician teachers and the amazing residents who volunteer their time on our committees.”

We thank Dr. Goguen for her many years of exemplary service to the DoM and wish her the very best in her future endeavours.