Teaching Centre

The George Hull Centre has a formal affiliation with the University of Toronto and is a teaching centre for psychiatry, medicine, social work, social work research and speech and language pathology. The Centre is also a teaching centre for child and youth work, early childhood education, social work, social service work and nursing students from other universities and community colleges.

Psychiatry

Through the University of Toronto, Division of Child Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, the Centre offers four positions for general psychiatry residents and/or career track child psychiatry residents.

Rotations are available in Community Services and Residential and Day Treatment Services.

The Community Services resident, with Dr. Lisa Sheinin as primary supervisor, will be involved in the diagnosis, assessment and treatment planning of children from birth to age six, and their families. This rotation provides an excellent opportunity for career track residents or general psychiatric residents interested in community psychiatry.

The Community Services residents, with Dr. Ruth Stirtzinger and Dr. Marianne Gocker as primary supervisors, become active members of one of two multidisciplinary teams. They provide psychiatric consultation to a rich and diverse clinic population while collaborating and sharing expertise with a group of very experienced clinicians. Undergraduate medical students are involved with the Clinic population for diagnosis, assessment and treatment planning, and benefit from working with a wide spectrum of services for children and youth. George Hull is recognized province-wide for the quality of its service delivery to patients/clients and for the strength of its multidisciplinary teams.

The Residential Treatment Services resident, with Dr. Greg Lodenquai as primary supervisor, provides psychiatric consultation to a wide range of inpatient programs servicing the greater Toronto area. They range from short term outreach interventions to long term residential programs.

The Clear Directions resident, with Dr. Greg Lodenquai as primary supervisor, provides individual and family assessments, program and team consultation in an adolescent substance abuse day program.

Social Work

Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Teaching Centre

The George Hull Centre is strongly committed to social work education and to furthering the development of social work knowledge in a practice setting.

The George Hull Centre is a designated Teaching Centre of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work. As part of a long-term partnership with the University, this Centre offers clinical and research social work placements annually to graduate social work students registered at the University of Toronto. Four placements are in the Community Clinic: one is a first year placement (January - May) and three are second year placements (September - April). A specialty placement is offered in the area of research, under the supervision of the Director of Research, for students interested in pursing careers in research or advanced graduate work. Another specialty placement is available for second year students in Clear Directions, the adolescent substance abuse program.

An experienced staff of six M.S.W. practitioners provide field instruction to students.

Field Practicum Program

The George Hull Centre offers a comprehensive field practicum program with learning opportunities geared to students with different learning styles:

• Student Orientation - Orientation to the George Hull Centre includes introduction to the Community Clinic and the supervisory group, review of a family therapy videotape, and visits to the George Hull Centre residential and specialty programs.

• Family Therapy Seminar - Four sessions with Nancy Webb, M.S.W., R.S.W., Director of Community Services. These sessions look at the underpinnings of social work practice through presentation of student cases.

• Interactive Interdisciplinary Student Seminar - These monthly seminars provide an interactive opportunity for students and supervisors from the various disciplines to share case discussion, theoretical material and skills rooted in their respective disciplines. Papers on a topic of clinical interest are circulated to participants prior to the seminar to enrich the discussion.

• Student-Led Case Discussion Seminars - Case consultation is part of a tradition of open and ongoing professional collaboration at the Centre. It ensures the provision of ongoing appropriate service to the client. In this seminar, students present a clinical dilemma drawn from their own caseloads to a group of fellow students and their field supervisors.

• Individual Supervision - Individual supervision remains the cornerstone of the social work student's learning experience at the George Hull Centre. The experience combines live supervision, videotape review, and case discussion to facilitate the student's understanding of the role of theory, clinical skill and therapist's use of self in the practice of social work.

• Multidisciplinary Teams: Community Clinic - The George Hull Centre is recognized province-wide for the quality of its service delivery to clients and for the strength of it multidisciplinary teams. The students on placement in the Community Clinic attend weekly multidisciplinary team meetings in which experienced clinicians from the disciplines of psychiatry, psychology and social work collaborate and share expertise to provide a full range of assessment and treatment options to meet the needs of a rich and diverse clinical population. Team meetings are an important forum for teaching and learning within the Centre.

---

Child and Youth Work

Field Practicum positions for first, second and third year child and youth work students are available to five community colleges in Ontario:

- Humber College in Etobicoke, Ontario
- George Brown College in Toronto, Ontario
- Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario
- Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario
- Centennial College in Toronto, Ontario

The George Hull Centre Residential and Day Treatment Services offers thirteen positions at any one time. Special arrangements are available for part-time students and summer placements.

Students are assigned to one of the four programs in Residential and Day Treatment Services for their primary experience, including individual supervision. In addition, the students gain experience in the other Residential and Day Treatment Services, familiarize themselves with Community Services, and attend training/clinical activities at the Community Clinic. Students attend a monthly student group, chaired by the Director of Residential and Day Programs, which facilitates the creation of a peer support group and provides an enriched learning experience through discussion and role-play.

Child and youth work students at the George Hull Centre for Children and Families:

• work with children and their families to develop their child and youth work skills;

• become familiar with the program and agency philosophy, as well as the clinical interventions used;

• attend weekly multidisciplinary program meetings to participate in both program reviews and individual case reviews;

• gain practical experience in writing progress notes, assessments and discharge reports.

The George Hull Centre for Children and Families endorses a strong multidisciplinary model, favours an empirical and phenomenological approach, and places an emphasis on identifying and using the innate strengths of children and their families. By working closely with social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, child and youth workers, teachers and early childhood educators, child and youth work students develop an appreciation for the many ways in which collaboration between the disciplines can have a powerful and positive impact on the lives of children and their families.