We are a medical school, born in 1868, that teaches scientific excellence and humanity in medicine, a school that trains doctors to be accomplished clinicians, compassionate caregivers, good communicators, and balanced individuals.

Dalhousie University offers programs that will lead, upon successfully completion of training, to eligibility for certification by the College of Family Physicians of Canada or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. For more information about Dalhousie Postgraduate Medical Education, please visit our website at: http://postgraduate.medicine.dal.ca

In most training programs, a portion of your educational experience is provided at affiliated Dalhousie University institutions situated outside of Halifax. All the hospitals that may be used by Dalhousie University programs are listed below:

Cape Breton District Health Authority (CBDHA) is located in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. The Cape Breton Healthcare Complex (CBHC) is composed of four acute care facilities - New Waterford Consolidated Hospital, Glace Bay Healthcare Corporation, Northside Harbourview Hospital, and the Cape Breton Regional Hospital. The Cape Breton Regional Hospital (CBRH) serves both as the community hospital for Sydney and surrounding area, and is the regional referral centre for Cape Breton Island. The CBRH CBHC is the second busiest health care facility in Nova Scotia with over 11,000 acute admissions per year and over 49,000 ER visits. Again, second only to the QEII in Halifax, it has the highest patient care mix (degree of patient complexity) in the province.

IWK Health Centre is the high-risk referral hospital for all of Nova Scotia. Each year, there are approximately 27,105 emergencies and 4,477 babies delivered at the IWK and Maritime children, women, youth and newborns spend approximately 66,000 days as inpatients and 188,116 ambulatory care visits at the Health Centre. The IWK has a total of beds, 241 beds. With more than 3,045 staff and over 750 volunteers, the Health Centre benefits from the generosity of more than 60,000 donors Maritime-wide. There are approximately 50 residents, 173 active medical and dental staff who are experts in a wide range of specialties including pediatrics, surgery, psychiatry, dentistry, laboratory medicine, diagnostic imaging, anesthesia, obstetrics, gynaecology and family medicine. This is also the home hospital for the pediatric and obstetrics and gynecology residents.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is a full service referral hospital with the exception of cardiac surgery and neurosurgery. The Redevelopment Project at QEH provided for a new state- of the-art ER department and expansion of the Cancer Treatment Centre. A new Ambulatory Care Centre will open in Spring of 2012, and renovations to other departments are underway. The facility, located in Charlottetown, has 274 beds and approximately 900 deliveries annually.

The Prince County Hospital (PCH) is the province's second largest acute care hospital and functions as a referral centre for the western half of the province. It houses a variety of specialty services and has one of the most advanced minimally-invasive (laproscopic) surgical OR's in Eastern Canada. This state-of-the-art facility was built in 2004, and is located in Summerside, 45 minutes west of Charlottetown. PCH has 102 inpatient beds and approximately 470 annual deliveries. Residents can complete specialty and family medicine rotations at both facilities.

Capital District Health Authority is the largest integrated academic health district in Atlantic Canada, with facilities and community services in Halifax Regional Municipality and surrounding areas, spanning from Sheet Harbour to West Hants, Nova Scotia. Capital Health provides core health services to nearly half a million Nova Scotians, and tertiary and quaternary acute care services to residents of Atlantic Canada. With a team of 10,000 staff working in a variety of disciplines in both urban and rural settings, Capital Health is home to renowned programs, services and research and offers a wide range of learning opportunities.

Residents participate in all aspects of care delivery across Capital Health including 792,067 ambulatory care clinic visits, 147,524 emergency room visits and 39,404 operative cases each year, along with other diagnostic and laboratory services. For more information about Capital Health, visit: www.cdha.nshealth.ca.

Queen Elizabeth II Health Science Centre, a component of Capital Health, consists of various sites such as the Halifax Infirmary, Victoria General, the Abbie J.Lane and Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre. These sites are in close proximity to each other in peninsular Halifax and are situated close to downtown core. Most Halifax based residents will rotate through a variety of adult services at these sites.

PGY1 trainees rotate through emergency, internal medicine, general surgery, general medicine, urology, geriatrics, family medicine, etc. Ophthalmology and otolaryngology are based at the Victoria General site. Electives in rehabilitation medicine and the PM&R program have its base at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Center. The Victoria General site serves as a referral function for adult general medical, general surgical, and oncology and transplant cases for the Maritime Provinces.

Regional Health Authority - Zone 1 is located in Moncton, New Brunswick. Rotations at this general hospital include the Northumberland Family Medicine Residency Program as well as elective opportunities in general surgery, general medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, anaesthesia, and emergency medicine. First Year Surgery Residents who rotate in Moncton spend two months in general surgery at this hospital. This is a 386-bed hospital with 68,597 emergencies yearly and 1,210 deliveries.

Regional Health Authority - Zone 2 The Saint John Regional Hospital, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, is the flagship institution of the Saint John Zone within the Horizon Health Network. It is the largest hospital in the region, with 449 beds, 48,700 emergency visits yearly and 1,800 deliveries. More than 160 Royal College and Family Medicine medical trainees and 75 undergraduate trainees participate in core, selective and elective rotations at the Saint John Regional Hospital each year. An average of 50 undergraduate and post graduate trainees are on site at various facilities in the Saint John Zone at any time, with residency training provided within the Departments of Anesthesiology, Diagnostic Radiology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurosurgery, Obstetrics/Gynaecology, Pediatrics, Pathology, Plastic Surgery, Psychiatry, Radiation Oncology, Orthopedic Surgery, General Surgery and Urology. Elective undergraduate and postgraduate rotations are also provided in Otolaryngology, Ophthalmology, and Dermatology. The presence of the medical trainees on-site contributes to the promotion of quality patient care, the assurance of continuing education of staff and the improvement of recruitment initiatives. The Saint John Regional Hospital is home to Dalhousie University's Saint John Based Family Medicine Residency Training Program, the Integrated Family Medicine Emergency Medicine Residency Training Program, and the New Brunswick based Internal Medicine Residency Training Program.

Region Health Authority - Zone 3 River Valley Health operates the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton, New Brunswick, as well as 12 other community hospitals and health centres in the region. The Regional Hospital has 400 beds, 54,000 emergency patients and 1,700 deliveries yearly. Fredericton is the home of a Family Medicine Teaching Unit which accepts up to 8 PGY-1s each year. Residents are based in busy community family medicine practices, each of which also has a component of inpatient care. The preceptors have special interests in the areas of Family Medicine Obstetrics, Emergency Medicine, Sports Medicine and Care of the Elderly. Residents wishing experience in one of these areas may ask to be placed with a particular preceptor. All of the PGY-1 rotations can be completed in Fredericton or residents may choose to complete the Emergency Medicine rotation in Saint John.

At Dalhousie University the first iteration will include two parallel streams for entrance into PGY1 programs through CaRMS. One entrance stream is for graduates of Canadian Medical Schools and the second for International Medical Graduates. You must be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada to apply to either stream.

Dalhousie University tuition fees for the 2011/2012 academic year were set at $2,793.50 per annum. The student portion of the tuition is currently capped at $300. The employer pays the difference.

As of July 1, 2011 the salary schedule is:

See also an overview of the current collective agreement contract of the Professional Association of Residents in the Maritime Provinces (PARI-MP): http://www.parimp.ca/site_page.php?page=35

All postgraduate medical students are required to show proof of Immunization for tetanus, diphtheria, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis (whooping cough), chicken pox, hepatitis B, and Sero Conversion. Immunization against influenza is recommended. Skin testing to establish tuberculin status is also recommended. Proof of immunization must be written documentation obtained from the physician and/or public health facility. This documentation must include the date of immunization. An immunization status form is available, should it be required.

It is mandatory that all PGY1s complete an ACLS course prior to commencing training. Dalhousie does not provide nor offer this course to incoming trainees; therefore, you must make arrangements to complete one before your arrival as it may be very difficult to find an available course in the Maritimes. You may be required to participate in running arrest codes and not having ACLS could inhibit your ability to join assigned rotations.

The employer will pay directly to CMPA the cost of coverage for all residents except those not covered by the collective agreement as detailed in article 3.02 and those residents externally funded.

All programs at Dalhousie University commence July 1, 2012, with a required one-day Orientation for trainees' in Halifax, June 28, 2012.

For those entering through the CaRMS IMG stream there will be a special orientation/introduction to the Canadian Health Care System that will be held over two weeks starting approximately June 13th, and attendance is expected.

Admission to Dalhousie University Postgraduate Medicine R-1 (PGY1) positions is conducted through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS). The first iteration of the CaRMS match will include two parallel streams. You must be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada to apply to either stream. The definition of a Permanent Resident is a Canadian immigrant who has permanent resident status in Canada but is not yet a Canadian citizen.

One stream will be for Canadian Medical School graduates who have not had previous post-MD/clinical training.

The second stream will be open to International Medical Graduates who have not had previous Canadian post-MD/clinical training. There will be a selection of programs in both Family Medicine and Specialty training that will be made available. All international medical graduates will be required to sign a return of service contract with the Ministry of Health for either the Province of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island, in the specialty (including Family Medicine) to which they have been matched prior to starting their residency.

All unfilled positions will open to all candidates including graduates of Canadian medical Schools and IMGs who fulfill the eligibility criteria. Applicants in the second iteration who are accepted to unfilled first iteration IMG positions will be required to sign a return of service contract with the Ministry of Health for either the Province of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, in the specialty (including Family Medicine) to which they have been matched.

The positions allocated to the IMG stream for 2012 and the Department of Health they will have a RoS with, are as follows:

Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness: Family Medicine sites in Halifax, Sydney, Annapolis Valley, Saint John and Fredericton, and Psychiatry.

New Brunswick Department of Health: Family Medicine site in Moncton, Internal Medicine (without subspecialty) – Halifax and Saint John sites.

Prince Edward Island Department of Health: Family Medicine Prince Edward Island site.

The following 6 requirements for International Medical Graduates must be provided in order to be considered for residency training at Dalhousie University:

It should be noted that International Medical Graduates who have previous post-graduate training in either Canada or the United States, that is creditable for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the College of Family Physicians of Canada certification, are not eligible to participate in CaRMS in the first iteration for Dalhousie University positions.

1. Legal Status

IMGs must be a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident at the time of application. When applying you must submit one of the following verifications:

• Notarized/certified photocopy of Birth Certificate issued by an authority in Canada with any photo identification; or
  
  
• Notarized/certified photocopy of Canadian Passport; or
  
  
• Notarized/certified photocopy of Canadian citizenship certificate, Record of Landing; or
  
  
• Notarized/certified photocopy of Permanent Resident Card/Canadian Citizen Card.

2. Proof of MD Degree

IMGs must be a graduate of an acceptable medical school on the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) list.

A notarized/certified copy of medical school marks/transcripts and medical degree/diploma must be submitted. Documents that are not in English must be accompanied by a notarized translation.

3. Language

Because English is the language of study at Dalhousie, all applicants whose first language is not English must provide proof of proficiency. You must have achieved the required proficiency in one of the following English language tests:

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
  We require a minimum TOEFL score of 600 for paper based, 250 for computer based, or 100 for internet based (IBT); or,
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
  We require a band score of 7.

Scores that are less than those stated above will not be considered.

Exemptions to the English language tests will be made only if the language of instruction throughout the entire undergraduate medical education curriculum was in English. A letter of attestation of this from the Dean of the Medical School must be provided with the application.

4. Medical Council of Canada

A current pass in the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Exam (MCCEE) is required, and if applicants provide proof of performance on the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Exams (MCCQE) (parts 1 and 2) or the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USLME) Parts 1, 2 and 3 this will also be considered. For further information regarding Medical Council of Canada examinations you may contact:

Applications for the MCCEE and the MCCQE (part 1) are available from most Canadian Employment and Immigration Commissions outside of Canada. To be eligible to take the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part 1, your medical school must be listed in the World Health Organization Directory of Medical Schools.

5. Provincial Licensure Requirements

All applicants must be eligible to register for an educational license with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. A requirement for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia is that international medical graduates must include proof, as part of the completed license application, that verification through the PCRC has been initiated.

6. Return of Service Agreement

IMGs must be eligible to enter into a return of service agreement with Nova Scotia, and available to undertake their return of service period beginning within 3 months after completion of their residency. IMGs who have undischarged ROS obligations may not be eligible to begin Ministry-funded training positions in Nova Scotia. IMGs holding return of service (ROS) obligations must disclose pre-existing obligations at the time of their application. Such individuals may wish to contact the Ministry for further information.

Other criteria
Preference will be given to international medical graduates who are living in the Atlantic Provinces working in an area of health care.

Preference will be given to international medical graduates who have the Clinical Assessment for Practice Program (CAPP) or equivalent. You can find information regarding CAPP at the following site: http://www.capprogram.ca/

In the CaRMS process, a number of residency positions will require Return of Service (RoS) commitments. In the first round of the CaRMS process, these positions will be available to International Medical Graduates (IMGs) only. However, in the second round of the CaRMS process, both IMGs and Canadian Medical Graduates (CMGs) will be eligible to apply for these positions. Those individuals (IMG or CMG) who are matched through CaRMS to residency positions associated with Return of Service (RoS) commitments will be required to sign a contract for RoS to a specific Maritime province. The basic conditions of the RoS contract that will be employed have been developed jointly by the four Atlantic Provinces and will incorporate a length of return service equal to the number of years the physician spent in his/her residency training program.

If a resident does not meet the terms of the return of service agreement, repayment will be required, subject to the conditions specific to each province.

The positions allocated to the IMG stream and the Department of Health they will have a RoS with is updated annually and advertised on the CaRMS web site.

Should you wish to receive a contract template for a specific province, or to discuss terms and conditions of the Return for Service in each of the jurisdictions, the provincial contacts are as follows:

• Nova Scotia Department of Health & Wellness,
  Joanne MacKinnon, joanne.mackinnon@gov.ns.ca
  
  
• New Brunswick Department of Health,
  Eric Levesque, eric.j.levesque@gnb.ca
  
  
• Prince Edward Island Department of Health,
  Treena Bellamy, tibellamy@ihis.org

• Faculty of Medicine
• Dalhousie University
• This is Nova Scotia