The Temerty Faculty of Medicine (commonly known by its former name, the Faculty of Medicine) is the medical school of the University of Toronto in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1843, Temerty Medicine is the oldest medical school in the province of Ontario and the largest in the country. Its 14 affiliated hospitals and health organizations are collectively known as the Toronto Academic Health Science Network, and includes University Health Network (UHN), the largest research hospital network in Canada.
The faculty is based on the University of Toronto's St. George campus near the Discovery District of downtown Toronto, and operates tri-campus on the university's St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough campuses.
Temerty Medicine is one of two medical schools in the Greater Toronto Area, the other being Toronto Metropolitan University's School of Medicine, established in 2025.
History
The University of King's College Medical School, the precursor to the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine opened in 1843. The University of Toronto itself formed in 1849 following the passage of the Baldwin Act which removed the university from the control of the Anglican Church. In 1853, the United Provinces of Canada legislature, on the ostensible grounds of public sentiment, opposed state aid for the profession of medicine and abolished the medical school at the University of Toronto. As a consequence of the Hincks University Bill, the University of Toronto was reduced to only having a supervisory role in medical education being responsible for administering examinations and conferring degrees.
The decision on the part of the legislature opened the way for private medical schools called proprietary schools to develop in Toronto. In 1850, the Upper Canada School of Medicine formed. In 1851, this school became the medical faculty of the University of Trinity College. Trinity closed in 1856 and was reopened in 1871. John Rolph opened a school in 1843 which was renamed the Toronto School of Medicine in 1851. This would later become the Victoria University of Medicine in 1854. The Victoria School of Medicine would collapse in 1874 and students would go to the new Toronto School of Medicine. This version of the Toronto School of Medicine was re-opened by professors in 1856 without John Rolph and became affiliated with the University of Toronto. The Women's Medical College was founded 1 October 1883. It was affiliated with Trinity Medical College. In 1890, the institution moved and became connected with the University of Toronto with students being able to write exams at either institution. Under the provisions of the bill of 1853, the University of Toronto was responsible for licensing the medical graduates of these colleges. The University of Toronto would administer examinations and confer a Bachelor of Medicine degree to those who proved competent.
The two main proprietary schools that educated future physicians were the Toronto School of Medicine and the Trinity School of Medicine. Both schools were successful and were able to expand their facilities and attract more students. However, a point of criticism from detractors was that these schools were not able to provide a proper education in the sciences. Science was at the forefront of the change in universities' pedagogic shift to centres of research and knowledge dissemination. Laboratories and experiments were integral to this shift, and the expense associated with providing for these in a medical education was not something that the proprietary schools could bear. In 1868, the government of Ontario cut off grants to medical schools. Reliant solely on tuition fees, the schools could not provide the necessary resources needed for the increasing focus on science. In 1878, the University of Toronto Senate set more demanding standards for their examinations, which led to a decline in students seeking their degrees at the university. In 1883, only ten students passed the exams.
The University Federation Act of 1887 brought the medical faculty back to life. The Toronto School of Medicine amalgamated with University of Toronto to form the Faculty of Medicine. While initially reticent, the Toronto School of Medicine was not able to offer the same level of scientific education and research abilities as the University of Toronto. Once the Toronto School of Medicine was absorbed, its buildings were used by the University of Toronto, and the Faculty of Medicine was established with 29 members from both institutions. Under William Thomas Aikins, the Dean of the re-founded faculty from 1887 to 1893, rapid changes in education resulted in science being taught and new technologies being used in the education of medical students. In 1889, the University of Toronto built a new biology building with it to also serve in the teaching of medicine. An 1891 expansion led to the top floor being used for the dissection of cadavers. Lectures were given in this building while clinical work was done at the Toronto General Hospital. The Toronto General Hospital also featured laboratory facilities available to the medical students.
Trinity School of Medicine became Trinity Medical College in 1888. While successful, with laboratories and varied teaching facilities, the importance of research and inability for it to compete made its position untenable. In 1902, Trinity began discussions to be absorbed in the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. Talks were completed in July 1903 when the charter of the medical college was surrendered to Toronto. At this time, a new medical building was constructed at the University of Toronto called the New Laboratories building that included laboratories with removable partitions to increase and decrease class sizes. When completed in 1904, a celebration was held to mark the occasion and the amalgamation of the University of Toronto and Trinity College.
The Women's Medical College was not included in the plans and continued as a separate institution. Following the report of the Royal Commission on the University the Women's Medical College was absorbed into the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.
The 1910 Flexner Report on the state of medical education in the United States and Canada, which led to the closures of many medical schools across the continent, nonetheless singled out a select few medical schools for praise, among them Toronto's Faculty of Medicine. Flexner praised the "high quality of instruction" offered at Toronto and noted that its equipment was "among the best on the continent". The report suggested that medical schools appoint full-time clinical professors, which led physician William Goldie to establish the Sir John and Lady Eaton Professor and Chair of Medicine, the first endowed chair at the University of Toronto and the first full-time professorship of medicine in the British Empire. The inaugural holder of the position, which is concurrent with being chair of the Department of Medicine, was Duncan Archibald Graham.
In 2020, James and Louise Temerty donated $250 million to the faculty, which U of T called the largest donation ever to a Canadian university. The faculty of medicine was named the Temerty Faculty of Medicine in their honour.
Affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes
The Temerty Faculty of Medicine is affiliated with several teaching hospitals and research institutes as members of the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN), a consortium of health care organizations affiliated with the University of Toronto.
Apart from TAHSN member sites, rotations for students may also involve community teaching hospitals, which include North York General Hospital, St. Joseph's Health Centre, and Markham Stouffville Hospital.
MaRS Discovery District is an affiliated corporation that was established to help commercialize the faculty's life science and medical research through partnerships with private enterprises.
On April 7, 2022, the University of Toronto announced a partnership with American biotechnology company Moderna intended to develop new tools to prevent and treat infectious diseases, collaborating with researchers in the fields of molecular genetics, biomedical engineering, and biochemistry. The collaboration is a joint venture across U of T's Faculties of Applied Science and Engineering and Medicine.
MD Program The Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program at the University of Toronto is a 4-year degree with a total enrolment of about 850 students. For the 2026 admission year the Faculty of Medicine will admit 303 students. The first two years are known as the preclerkship curriculum, during which MD candidates acquire basic biomedical and human anatomy knowledge. The principles of medical ethics, professionalism and medical jurisprudence are also taught in preclerkship. The final two years form the clerkship curriculum that takes place in hospitals and ambulatory clinics. The core clerkship rotations cover the essential medical specialties: surgery and internal medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, family medicine, ambulatory experience, neurology, emergency medicine, anesthesia, ophthalmology, otolaryngology and dermatology. Additional rotations are devoted to elective clerkships that provide training in subdisciplines within the major specialities.
Academies A unique practice of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine is that each student in the MD Program is assigned to one of five academies. These academies comprise groups of affiliated teaching hospitals and serve as smaller communities within the large program. The original three (FitzGerald, Peters-Boyd, and Wightman-Berris) were established in 1992 and are all located on the St. George campus. Two new academies (Mississauga and Scarborough) were created as the MD Program expanded to all three U of T campuses.
FitzGerald Academy The FitzGerald Academy (Fitz), established in 1992, is named after John G. FitzGerald and located on the St. George campus. The academy enrols over 700 students annually and comprises Unity Health Toronto, which includes St. Michael’s Hospital as the primary academic anchor hospital, St. Joseph's Health Centre, and Providence Healthcare.
Mississauga Academy of Medicine
The Mississauga Academy of Medicine (MAM), established in 2011 with an inaugural cohort of 54 students, is located on the Mississauga campus. It maintains a clinical partnership with Trillium Health Partners. The academy hosts over 200 students annually, and is based in the Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Complex, with houses modern classrooms, seminar rooms, computer facilities, learning spaces and laboratories across two floors.
Peters-Boyd Academy The Peters-Boyd Academy (PB), established in 1992, is located on the St. George campus and enrols over 400 students annually. It is named after Vera Peters, a pioneer in radiation treatment for cancer, and William Boyd, professor of pathology and prolific author. The academy comprises Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Women's College Hospital, and North York General Hospital.
Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health The Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) is the newest academy, planned to open in 2026 for the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and U of T Scarborough health sciences programs. In 2022, the Ontario government announced that the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus would provide medical training. Starting in 2027, the academy will offer 30 undergraduate seats and 45 postgraduate positions in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine's MD Program.
Wightman-Berris Academy