Sessional Lecturer- HAD3070H Health Law and Risk Management for Quality Imp. and Patient Safety

Sessional Lecturer Position

Posting Date: September 21, 2026

Program: Master of Science Quality Improvement and Patient Safety

Sessional Dates of Appointment: Winter 2027, January- April Existing Vacancy: Yes

Course Title: HAD3070H Health Law and Risk Management for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety

Course Description:

This course will cover a number of topic areas including: 

• The risk management process (i.e. identification, assessment, mitigation), methods for identifying and ranking top clinical and other risks using data from a range of patient safety and risk management sources 
• Strategies for integrating organizational risk management, quality improvement and patient safety activities; 
• Methods for identifying, managing and investigating critical incidents, and for implementing and sustaining effective recommendations for improvement; 
• Principles and practices for disclosure of adverse events; 
• Relevant legislation and regulations (e.g. the public hospital act, disclosure, apology, consent and capacity, etc); 
• The rationale and legal protection for quality assurance activities; 
• The medical-legal claims process and the effect of claims on patient safety and quality; 
• The role of professional colleges in ensuring quality care, and potential issue related to the systems approach to patient safety and implementation of a just culture; 
• The role of the coroner in patient safety; 
• The role of accreditation in ensuring quality and in influencing organizational priority setting in patient safety and quality. 
• The course will include didactic pre-reading, lectures from leading experts, group discussion, and in-class simulations. 

Objectives:  

• Identify and assess the range of clinical and non-clinical risks within a healthcare organization and apply a structured methodology to identify high priority risks requiring leadership and governance attention; 
• Recognize the linkage between risk management, quality improvement and patient safety functions and understand how they can be effectively integrated within an organization; 
• Categorize the multiple sources of risk management data (including incident reports, critical incident investigations, patient complaints, medical legal claims, M&M reviews, alerts, audits, etc) and outline strategies to obtain actionable information from data mining efforts; 
• Recognize the significant laws and regulations which govern healthcare quality and safety; 
• Understand the unique relationship between physicians and hospitals and describe the important role of credentialing of healthcare professionals in ensuring quality care; 
• Formulate arguments both for and against the protection of quality assurance information in healthcare; 
• Understand the civil litigation process and factors which may contribute to an adverse event proceeding to a medical malpractice claim; 
• Describe the challenges associated with identifying and managing critical incidents and outline the elements of successful investigation and follow up; 
• Outline the rationale for disclosure of adverse events to patients, debate the evidence regarding the effect of disclosure on medical malpractice claims, and analyze and critique disclosure skills; 
• Understand the mandate and activities of the coroner’s office, professional colleges, and accreditation, and debate their role in advancing healthcare quality and safety. 

Course Details: 

Class schedule: Modular sessions 

Delivery mode: In-person 

Estimated enrolment: 30

Estimated TA support: None 

Qualifications:

• Significant experience leading legal, risk management, patient safety , privacy, ethics and governance functions in the acute care setting;
• A robust understanding of the role of quality improvement in the Canadian healthcare system;
• Past teaching experience related to health law and risk management for quality improvement and  patient safety at the graduate level;
• Prior experience in curriculum development and adult teaching-learning methods is helpful;
• Experience working in more applied settings including for example as a preceptor;
• Comfortable with electronic teaching tools such as Learning Management Systems (e.g., Quercus), PowerPoint, as well as on-line collaboration tools (Blogs, Wikkis, Discussion Boards, Webinars, or Video-conferencing).

Duties: 

• Course instructor for a professional graduate course using competency-based learning and assessment methods.
• Must be accessible to students outside of classroom hours.
• Available evenings and weekends.

Salary:

$9,997.47 - Sessional Lecturer I  

$10,699.21 - Sessional Lecturer I - Long Term  

$10,699.21 - Sessional Lecturer II   

$10,953.96 - Sessional Lecturer II - Long Term  

$10,953.96 - Sessional Lecturer III  

$11,228.90 - Sessional Lecturer III - Long Term  

Please note that should rates stipulated in the collective agreement vary from rates stated in this posting, the rates stated in the collective agreement shall prevail. 

Application: Please send your CV and cover letter, outlining additional value you will bring to teaching the course via e-mail to  View email address on jobs.utoronto.ca .  

Closing Date: October 12, 2026   

This job is posted in accordance with the CUPE 3902 Unit 3 Collective Agreement.

It is understood that some announcements of vacancies are tentative, pending final course determinations and enrolment. Should rates stipulated in the collective agreement vary from rates stated in this posting, the rates stated in the collective agreement shall prevail.

Preference in hiring is given to qualified individuals advanced to the rank of Sessional Lecturer II or Sessional Lecturer III in accordance with Article 14:12 of the CUPE 3902 Unit 3 collective agreement.

Please note: Undergraduate or graduate students and postdoctoral fellows of the University of Toronto are covered by the CUPE 3902 Unit 1 collective agreement rather than the Unit 3 collective agreement, and should not apply for positions posted under the Unit 3 collective agreement.