The Core Internal Medicine Residency Program offers a curriculum of education and research that stresses superb patient care as the key to excellence in academic medicine. Trainees proceed under the guidance and supervision of a faculty whose aims and outlook are progressive and innovative.
UBC Department of Medicine Core Internal Medicine Training Program is a provincial program centralized in Vancouver. We have multiple teaching sites in the Lower Mainland which include:
- Vancouver General Hospital
- St. Paul’s Hospital
- Royal Columbian Hospital
- Surrey Memorial Hospital
We also have expanded training sites outside of the Lower Mainland and during the three core years of training all residents will be scheduled for some rotations in these expansion sites.
Accommodation will be provided as will travel costs.
PGY1 – PGY4 Core Program
1. Boot Camp – 4 weeks (first block)
2. Intensive Care Unit – 4 weeks
3. Coronary Care Unit – 4 weeks
4. Clinical Teaching Unit (Jr) – 20 weeks
5. Subspecialty Elective – 20 weeks
Boot Camp
The Internal Medicine Boot Camp will be offered over two consecutive 11-day cycles for half of our incoming PGY-1’s at a time during the first block of the academic year. This is a new strategy to help our incoming residents quickly transition to the responsibilities of an IM junior with a focus on key cognitive and procedural skills required to recognize and manage acutely ill or deteriorating patients, particularly while on call. The objective of the Boot Camp is to provide our Juniors with the necessary skills to function safely and competently in the acute setting.
We aim for our residents to use this protected academic time to review and apply pre-reading assignments, practice problem-solving, and/or key components of actions they will be required to undertake while on inpatient services, under expert faculty guidance.
Fundamental Critical Care Skills Course (FCCS)
This is a mandatory course offered at the beginning of the PGY1 year during Bootcamp.
Technology in Medicine Course
This is a mandatory course offered at the beginning of the PGY1 year during Bootcamp. The course will train residents in procedures and ultrasound use.
Out of Province and/or Research Electives
Residents are allowed one research and one out of province elective each year of residency. Residents wishing to do an elective out of province or to do a research elective are allowed to do so but need to obtain permission from the Internal Medicine Program Director via a signed Out-of-Province Elective form or Research Rotation form. Residents on remediation/probation are not allowed to do Out of Province Electives.
1. Coronary Care Unit – 8 weeks
2. Clinical Teaching Unit (Sr) – 16 weeks
3. Community Care – 4 weeks
4. Subspecialty Electives – 24 weeks
Out of Province and/or Research Electives
Residents are allowed one research and one out of province elective each year of residency. Residents wishing to do an elective out of province or to do a research elective are allowed to do so but need to obtain permission from the Internal Medicine Program Director via a signed Out-of-Province Elective form or Research Rotation form. Residents on remediation/probation are not allowed to do Out of Province Electives.
1. Intensive Care Unit – 8 weeks
2. Clinical Teaching Unit (Sr) – 12 weeks
3. Ambulatory Care – 8 weeks
4. Subspecialty Electives – 24 weeks
Out of Province and/or Research Electives
Residents are allowed one research and one out of province elective each year of residency. Residents wishing to do an elective out of province or to do a research elective are allowed to do so but need to obtain permission from the Internal Medicine Program Director via a signed Out-of-Province Elective form or Research Rotation form. Residents on remediation/probation are not allowed to do Out of Province Electives.
Core Residency Curriculum
Academic Half Day runs for 3-4 hours every Wednesday afternoon and is a mandatory component of the program. This is protected time for the residents and all services will release residents from clinical duties. Sessions may be held in-person (typically at VGH) or virtually, and where possible are video conferenced to satellite locations.
Topic, format (didactic and/or interactive), and speaker selection at AHD are determined by the Executive Curriculum Committee and its working groups, which consists of a vast representation of the target audience (Lead Medical Residents, class representatives from each year, and enthusiastic residents from across PGY1-3) and the Associate Program Director for Curriculum.
The Internal Medicine Program has recognized that resident well-being is an essential component of any postgraduate medical department. As such, the Program has developed a Wellness Initiative to identify barriers to resident wellness and equip residents with the skills and tools to overcome these obstacles. The Wellness Committee works with the Associate Program Director for Wellness to bring about resident-initiated ideas and solutions to improve the Internal Medicine residents' wellness. The curriculum is flexible, with changes being implemented based on resident feedback and ideas, and will be developed with longitudinal goals.
This is an annual retreat held over 2 - 3 days. All residents are welcome to attend. The retreat typically combines formal educational sessions and social events and represents an opportunity to connect outside the walls of the hospital. Residents who attend the retreat are typically excused from work duties, but could still be scheduled to be on-call. Those who choose not to attend the retreat are expected to remain on service.
Resident Research Day is held in the Spring each year and gives the residents a forum presenting their research. Traditionally, the event is held during the day and is followed by a reception for residents as well as faculty.
Plans for Research Day begin in October of each year and will commence with a series of deadlines that residents must meet thereafter: Submitting the name of their mentor, title of their project, and abstract. Residents will be emailed information on Research Day throughout the year.
The next Resident Research Day will be on June 7, 2023.
In 2007 the Department of Medicine Residency Training Program, under the guidance of Dr. Amanda Hill, established the Global Health Program in the Department of Medicine. The international elective opportunity has been in place since then and dozens of residents and faculty have participated to date.
The program began with a five-year commitment to Donald Fraser Hospital in South Africa, followed by six years 2013-2018 Gulu Regional Hospital in northern Uganda. Since 2019, we have worked in partnership with the University of Rwanda to provide an elective experience at University Teaching Hospital of Butare in Rwanda. This provides residents with a chance to understand the impact of poverty on health and well-being and learn about diseases that are uncommon in Canada. It is also an opportunity to engage in teaching both for and alongside local faculty, residents, and medical students. For most participants, the Global Health Elective was the highlight of their residency training at UBC.
As health advocates, physicians are expected to responsibly use their expertise and influence to advance the health and well-being of individual patients, communities, and populations. They are also expected to explore and understand the social determinants of health and the root causes of health inequities. Across our curriculum, we are increasing efforts to include sessions on EDI, Indigenous Health, LGBTQ2S+ health, refugee health, and more. We believe in empowering our residents to embrace their role as health advocates.