FM/Emergency Med. Match (R-3)

Program Descriptions

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Updated July 9, 2010

McMaster University

Rural Ontario Medical Program (ROMP)
College of Family Physicians of Canada
Emergency Medicine Residency Program CFPC-EM

Note: All candidates interested in the McMaster Emergency Medicine Residency program are encouraged to apply to both the ROMP and Regular stream. All applicants for ROMP and Regular stream will be interviewed simultaneously.

Supporting Documents

1. Reference Letters
   Three (3) references are required. At least one reference must be from an Emergency Physician, and one from your program director.
   Click here to access the "Referee assessment form"
   
   
2. Assessment by Program Director
   One letter from your family medicine program director which must be accompanied by the “Family Medicine Program Director’s Assessment of Applicant”.
   Click here to access the "Family medicine program / site director's assessment of applicant form"
   
   
3. Personal Letter
   A personal statement of your reasons for wanting to do an emergency medicine fellowship year. (2 pages maximum).

Interviews

The Selection Committee will be chaired by the Program Director and will consist of faculty on the Residency Steering Committee. The interview date is Monday, November 22 for both the ROMP and Regular based program.

Program Information

General Information

The Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine Residency program is administered by the Department of Family Medicine. It is designed to provide physicians, who have completed a family medicine residency, with the specific competence to practice Emergency Medicine and the leadership skills to assess, promote, and integrate emergency health services in the community.

Both an Urban and Rural stream of training are available depending on the future career goals of physicians. The Rural Ontario Medical Program/ rural funded spots are based in and administered by McMaster University. They consist of a minimum of three months of core rotations in the communities of Barrie, St Catharine's, Brantford, Collingwood, or Kitchener-Waterloo. (There is no return of service contract for ROMP funded spots). Candidates will be interviewed and selected via the regular CaRMS process.

Both programs involve the teaching hospitals of the Hamilton Health Region. The hospitals are organized such that there are regional programs which concentrate specialized facilities at specific locations, for example, Burn/Trauma at the Hamilton General, Pediatric Trauma at McMaster Hospital, Oncology at Henderson, and Emergency Psychiatry at St. Joseph's. Community based rotations may include amongst others, St. Catharines General Hospital, The Royal Victoria Hospital, Brantford General Hospital and Grand River Hospital. These institutions offer Emergency Departments with a good patient volume supported by comprehensive Medical and Surgical services. This will expose the resident to a wide range of patient problems, as well as specific focus in different rotations.

Prerequisites

Applicants must have successfully completed two years of a Family Medicine Residency Program leading to certification by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. In addition, applicants must have written or be eligible to write the College of Family Physicians of Canada certification examination.

Program Description

The length of training is one year with the resident designated as a third year resident in the Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine program. Rotations will be tailored to the resident's prior training and career goals. Rotations may include ICU, CCU, Surgery, Trauma, Orthopaedic, Plastic and Emergency Medicine. Over the three years there is a minimum of eight months of training in the Emergency Department with a minimum of four months in the third year. Two of the eight months should include significant experience in Emergency Paediatrics. At present, Emergency Paediatrics is obtained at McMaster Children’s Hospital. Candidates are urged to make use of their elective time in their first or second year of Family Medicine to enrol in some of the above rotations.

The manner in which the Emergency Medicine resident chooses to undertake his/her training has an obvious effect on the outline of the program. However, certain rotations are considered mandatory and must be completed under any of the training formula.

A "typical" residency year would include:

• 4 months - Emergency Medicine
• 1 month - Emergency Pediatrics
• 1 month - Community Emergency Medicine
• 1 month - Trauma
• 2 months - ICU
• 1 month - CCU
• 1 month - Orthopedic, Plastic or General Surgery or Selective
• 1 month - Anesthesia

This format could vary if residents have completed rotations in plastic surgery, orthopaedic surgery, general surgery, anaesthesia or CCU prior to staring their third year. Completing relevant rotations prior to the third year enhances the flexibility of their year. However, all residents must do 6 months of Emergency Medicine, 2 months of ICU, 1 month of trauma surgery and 1 month of anesthesia in their final year. If residents have not completed a general surgery rotation prior to their third year they will be required to do so before starting their trauma surgery rotation.

Selectives

Selectives are completed in a variety of formats, and approval is based on a set of criteria.

Academic Activities

Emergency Medicine core content material is covered during weekly academic half days. Wednesday mornings are the academic half day for Emergency Medicine. Covered topics include core content, radiology, examination preparation, bioethics, and administration.

Half day program includes:

1. Tintinalli Rounds
2. Procedural Skills Session
3. Practice Oral Examination

Residents are required to attend monthly Journal Club.

Research / Rounds

Residents are expected to complete a resident research project on evidence based medicine skills and have the ability to search data bases, critically appraise the articles and present the material at a resident research day. This may take the form of a CQI/QA project, literature search or a formal research design study. It is expected that residents will display competence in preparing, practicing and evaluating evidence based medicine.

Application Requirement

All applicants for the Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine Residency program are required to:

• Provide three letters of reference and Referee Assessment forms
• Family Medicine Program Director's Assessment of Applicant form
• Write a letter to Dr. Greg Rutledge, Program Director, Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine Residency program stating the applicant's reasons for wishing to join this program.

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