Fellowship in Clinical, Organizational, and Research Ethics 2023-2025

Overview
The Centre for Clinical Ethics (CCE) at Unity Health Toronto and the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto—in collaboration with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (Ontario Shores), The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Sinai Health (Sinai), and University Health Network (UHN)—invite applications for a two-year, full-time fellowship in clinical, organizational and research ethics, starting in September 2023 in Toronto, Canada. The purpose of the fellowship program is to train individuals to be competent practicing healthcare ethicists throughout the entire continuum of care and within both faith-based and non-faith-based healthcare environments.

Complete applications, including reference letters, are due by the end of the day on Monday, February 6, 2023.

Program Structure
A Fellow typically spends the first 3-6 months of their fellowship at Unity Health Toronto, where their time is focused primarily on immersive education. After this period, the Fellow begins to take on greater independence and responsibility, as they embark on a series of clinical rotations across Unity Health and its partners (CAMH, Ontario Shores, SickKids, Sinai, and UHN).

It is a central goal of the program for the Fellow to gain competencies in the following five domains: clinical consultation, organizational consultation (including policy review), research ethics review, the provision of ethics education, and academic bioethics scholarship. The fellow will be expected to be able to conduct clinical ethics consultations with minimal supervision by the end of their first year. Upon successful completion of a one-year review (at approximately the 12-month mark), the Fellow will transition to the Senior Fellow role for the second year, which is accompanied by an increase in compensation and responsibility.

For greater detail about the structure and educational content of the program, and about its academic and clinical partnerships, visit https://ccethics.com/fellowship.

Compensation
Fellows receive $50,500 CAD (inclusive of 6% in lieu of vacation) over the course of the first year. The current salary of a Senior Fellow (in the second year of the fellowship) is $61,000 CAD (inclusive of 6% in lieu of vacation). These are the expected yearly salaries a Fellow and Senior Fellow would receive when taking their entitled three weeks of unpaid time off each year. Fellows are entitled to paid statutory holidays.

In addition, the CCE will reimburse Fellows for their University of Toronto registration fees, as well as their registration fees and travel expenses for the Canadian Bioethics Society annual conference and (with approval) other relevant conferences. In the second year, the Fellow will receive financial support to complete the Healthcare Ethics Consultant-Certified (HEC-C) certification exam.

Eligibility and Entry Requirements
The ideal candidate will hold a graduate degree (preferably a doctoral degree) in a field relevant to bioethics (e.g., bioethics, law, medical science, theology, religion, or philosophy). The ideal candidate will also have undertaken significant course work in ethics, including (but not limited to) bioethics, and have some previous experience in applied clinical or organizational ethics. Strong consideration is given to candidates with academic training in ethics who also have training and experience in a regulated health profession (e.g., medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, social work, etc.).

Unity Health Toronto encourages applications from qualified candidates, and we especially welcome applicants who are Indigenous, Black or Racialized, persons with disabilities, people who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+, and all others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

As a condition of employment, all external hires will be required to submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination or documentation unless a valid accommodation under the Ontario Human Rights Code exists. All internal candidates must be in compliance with Unity Health Toronto’s COVID-19 Vaccination Policy.

If you are currently enrolled in a degree program, it is required that you will have completed your degree or have formally submitted your thesis for defense before the start of the fellowship, unless an exception is requested and granted prior to your acceptance of the position.

Applicants must already have or provide their own Canadian work-authorization for the duration of the fellowship program. Unity Health Toronto and the University of Toronto cannot sponsor or assist with visa or work-authorization applications for this position.

Applying
Please send the following items to Lynda Sullivan, CCE administrative assistant, at Lynda.Sullivan@unityhealth.to):

1. Your full curriculum vitae
2. A cover letter which expresses your interest in healthcare ethics and in this fellowship program and which explains how your experience has prepared you for the program
3. Clinical rotation preference statement: a brief statement, separate from your cover letter, of no more than 500 words, which expresses any academic, clinical, or other professional preferences about how your rotations might be scheduled (e.g., an interest in building expertise in mental health ethics; an interest in spending at least six months focusing on emergency or critical care medicine; an interest in doing a Senior rotation specializing in ethics related to pediatric medicine)
4. Research statement: a brief statement, separate from your cover letter, of no more than 500 words, which proposes a bioethics-related research project you would be interested in completing during your fellowship
5. A sample of your written scholarly work in bioethics (e.g., a course paper, thesis chapter, paper submitted for publication, or publication), between 1000 and 8000 words in length, of which you are the sole or primary author
6. Three original letters of reference, at least one from a supervisor familiar with your academic work and at least one from someone familiar with your experience in a professional (non-academic) setting Applications will be reviewed by a committee that will include staff from the CCE and may include staff from CAMH, Ontario Shores, SickKids, Sinai, and UHN, and other CCE partners.

While we appreciate all applications received, only those applicants selected for an interview will be contacted. Interviews will be held in March and/or April of 2023.

If you have questions, please contact Lynda Sullivan by email at Lynda.Sullivan@unityhealth.to.

The deadline for receipt of complete applications is end-of-day on Monday, February 6, 2023.