The Michener Institute


The Michener Institute of Education at UHN, or simply Michener, is a specialist post-secondary institution in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Based in Downtown Toronto and governed by the University Health Network, Canada's largest funded health care organization, Michener began as the Toronto Institute of Medical Technology in 1958 with a pilot program in Medical Laboratory Technology at the Toronto General Hospital. After years of expansion through more programs offered, the institute was relocated to its present campus in 1972 and was renamed in 1990 "The Michener Institute" after Roland Michener, former Governor General of Canada.
The institute is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and offers certification in various medical technologies, including chiropody, respiratory therapy, medical imaging, radiation, and genetics. Some of its programs are joint programs offered in partnership with the University of Toronto and Laurentian University.

History

The Michener Institute was founded by Dr. Diana Michener Schatz under the name the Toronto Institute of Medical Technology. In 1958 the value of combining learning in an educational environment with clinical education in a teaching hospital was demonstrated by pilot program developed by hospital-based physicians and medical technologists. In 1990 the name was changed to the Michener Institute in honour of Roland Michener, the 20th Canadian Governor General. In 2008, the Michener Institute celebrated 50 years in applied health science education. In 2016 Michener officially integrated with the University Health Network to become the Michener Institute of Education at UHN, a partnership that embeds the school within the hospital network. The aim of the integration is to embed teaching in clinical practice and research, and to deliver more up-to-date and comprehensive education for students. It also aims to create better learning opportunities for working health care professionals and accelerate the transfer of academic research from the school labs into clinical practice.
The integration was inspired by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and is the first time such a partnership between a school and a hospital has existed in Canada.

Programs

The Michener Institute has 12 full-time programs, two part-time programs and many more continuing education programs. Some of Michener's full-time programs include: Chiropody, Genetics Technology, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Nuclear Medicine and Respiratory Therapy. The part-time programs are Anesthesia Assistant and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The Michener Institute offers Bachelor's Degrees available through joint programs with the University of Toronto and Laurentian University.