Name:	Karen Ellison
Title:	Program Administrator
E-mail:	kellison@exchange.hsc.mb.ca
Phone:	(204) 787-1103
Name:	Dr. James Lau
Title:	Director of Research, Medical Oncology Training Program
E-mail:	james.lau@cancercare.mb.ca
Phone:	(204) 787-8959

Prospective candidates are expected to have ensured that any training done outside of Canada has been evaluated by the RCPSC and has met with their approval.

Prospective candidates must be prepared to come to Winnipeg for an interview, if offered one. We are willing to consider applications for a one year Medical Oncology Program for individuals who will be completing their Hematology training.

Canadian Medical Graduates:

Document	Mandatory	Optional
Medical school transcript	X
Reference letter Number of letters: 3 One must be from your current / most recent Program Director, and 2 of which must be from physicians you have recently worked with.	X
Personal letter This should clearly indicate your reasons for applying, what you feel you can bring to the program, as well as your expectations.	X
Proof of Citizenship	X
Photograph	X
Curriculum Vitae This should include the following information: Description of your training to date. Teaching and research positions you have held. Publications, including abstracts, giving authors, titles, etc. A copy of these should be appended, if available. Certificates, awards, scholarships, association memberships, etc., including the year in which these were obtained.	X
MCCEE	X

International Medical Graduates:

Document	Mandatory	Optional
Medical school transcript	X
Reference letter Number of letters: 3 Must be written by faculty members with whom you have worked. One letter should be from your current / most recent program director.	X
Personal letter This should clearly indicate your reasons for applying, what you feel you can bring to the program, as well as your expectations.	X
Proof of Citizenship Copy of Passport page showing Canadian citizenship Permanent resident card (both sides of the card).	X
Photograph	X
Curriculum Vitae This should include the following information: Description of your training to date. Teaching and research positions you have held. Publications, including abstracts, giving authors, titles, etc. A copy of these should be appended, if available. Certificates, awards, scholarships, association memberships, etc., including the year in which these were obtained.	X
MCCEE	X
Proof of language proficiency	X

Applications submitted after the file review has opened on August 24, 2011 :

- will be considered

References and other supporting documents which arrive after the file review has opened on August 24, 2011

- will be considered

Date(s) of Interview: October 14, 2011

Invitation/ Notification Information: Details regarding Interview:

Candidates for the two year program are expected to have completed three years of Internal Medicine at an accredited Canadian or American university, and to be in good standing and eligible for their Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) Internal Medicine Certification exams in the first year of their Medical Oncology training. In general we expect applicants to have familiarized themselves with Medical Oncology by having done at least one elective in the field during their Internal Medicine training. A reference from that experience would be highly valued.

Hematology trainees wishing to complete an additional third year in Medical Oncology are expected to have sat their RCPSC Hematology exam prior to commencing their Medical Oncology training.

The Medical Oncology Specialty Training Program at the University of Manitoba is committed to a fair, equitable and transparent selection process. Our objective is to offer positions to the best available qualified candidates. The selection process within the Internal Medicine subspecialty disciplines is competitive. A fixed number of training positions is available to all of these programs jointly, and all candidates are ranked according to their interview skills (both with the program they have applied to, and with the two external program directors who interview them), their curriculum vitae and their letters of reference. All candidates are then rank ordered and offers are made to the highest ranked candidates, regardless of discipline. As a consequence, the Department of Internal Medicine does not guarantee positions in any one discipline in a given year.

We offer a two-year program in Medical Oncology that meets the requirements of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The first year is comprised of mandatory rotations including two months in Hematology, two months in Radiation Oncology, one month in Palliative Care, one month in Gynecologic Oncology, and four months in Medical Oncology. The Hematology rotation is focused largely on malignant hematology, including one month on the Leukemia/Stem Cell Transplant in-patient service. The second year includes six months in Medical Oncology rotations, plus six months of elective time. We encourage our residents to spend one month in Pathology and one month in Community Oncology as part of their elective time, but residents with strong academic standing and defined research interests can request the entire six months as a research elective block. Our Medical Oncology rotations are based on three multi-disease-site specific teams.

There is no in-house call. During Medical Oncology rotations call never exceeds one in four. Since Medical Oncology patients requiring admission are usually admitted under the Internal Medicine teaching service, call usually entails answering phone calls from patients and addressing their concerns, and doing rounds on the weekend. Adequate Attending Staff supervision is guaranteed.

Early in the first year the trainee is assigned a longitudinal clinic, supervised by an attending staff member of the Section. Whenever possible this clinic is chosen to reflect the trainee’s stated interests. Participation in this clinic enables the trainee to appreciate the long-term nature of much of contemporary cancer care, and allows the trainee to hone patient interaction and communication skills.

Toward the end of the second year, in elective time, we offer the opportunity of an “Apprenticeship Clinic” in which the resident is paired with only one staff oncologist (generally of the trainee’s choice). The resident is expected to attend all of the staff oncologist’s clinics, and to fulfill all the clinical responsibilities of the staff physician, under the supervision of the staff physician. This rotation is intended to allow the resident to get a true sense of the clinical activities required of a full-fledged Medical Oncologist.

We also offer a novel elective rotation that is intended to focus on the CanMEDs domains of Manager, Health Advocate, and Collaborator. Prior to this “Administrative Block” rotation the resident is expected to have selected a topic (and supervisor) in the area of guidelines development or submission to the Pharmacotherapeutics Subcommittee. During the one month rotation the resident is expected to complete a guideline or P&T submission, and present it in the appropriate forum for discussion and potential approval.

Graded responsibility for the care of both inpatients and outpatients is provided throughout the trainee’s rotation.

The program is closely linked with CancerCare Manitoba, the organization overseeing cancer care in our province. CancerCare Manitoba is charged by an Act of the Legislature of Manitoba with responsibility for cancer prevention, detection, care, research and education for the people of Manitoba. As a Centre of choice, CCMB is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for those living with cancer and blood disorders, and to improving control of cancer for all Manitobans.

Our program includes links to a lively research environment. CancerCare Manitoba is extensively involved in clinical trials, with affiliations with the National Cancer Institute of Canada’s Clinical Trials Group, and with the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, and with involvement in a number of industry-sponsored trials. Faculty members are expected to be productive on an academic level, and interests range from involvement in basic science research in breast cancer, CLL and prostate cancer (with close ties to the highly-regarded Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology), to Clinical Epidemiology research with collaboration with our Epidemiology and Cancer Registry Department. Our residents are required to become involved in at least one research project during their two years, and are encouraged to try and carry it through to publication. We are able to provide guidance and mentorship in grant-writing, research methodology, statistical analysis, and manuscript preparation. To date, most of our trainees have been successful in carrying their research project(s) through to publication, and a number have gone on to research-based fellowship training.

Our program is based out of two CancerCare Manitoba facilities in Winnipeg: the MacCharles Site at Health Sciences Centre, and the Tache Site at St. Boniface Hospital. These two sites are only 5 km apart. Each disease-site specific rotation includes clinics in both hospitals, providing access to a wide spectrum of clinicians and patients. Currently we have 12 Medical Oncologists between the two facilities seeing approximately 2000 new patients per year.

The two host hospitals are full-service tertiary care teaching facilities, and the CancerCare Manitoba clinics are integrated into the full scope of these facilities. We have a sophisticated video-link system between our two primary clinics to ensure easy access to meetings and rounds. This system also allows us the opportunity of conducting TeleHealth assessments with our patients in remote areas of Manitoba (particularly a boon during the coldest winter months).

We are affiliated with a highly regarded Palliative Care Training Program, with an opportunity to spend time in the community with palliative care patients, or at one of two dedicated Palliative Care Units, at St. Boniface Hospital and Riverview Hospital in Winnipeg.

Radiation Oncology rotations take place at the MacCharles Site of CancerCare Manitoba.

There is an opportunity for a Community Oncology rotation, which generally takes place at a peripheral hospital in Winnipeg (the Victoria General Hospital) under the supervision of a senior, very experienced community oncologist.

FAQ’s

1. How much do I get paid?

Remuneration:
Residents will be paid according to the Professional Association of Residents of Manitoba (PARIM) agreement concerning remuneration of residents commensurate with their number of years of post-graduate training.

Effective Date	PGY4	PGY5	PGY6
July 1, 2009	$64,789	$69,418	$74,047
July 1, 2010	$66,409	$71,153	$75,898

2. Is the winter as bad as they say?

http://www.livingin-canada.com/climate-winnipeg.html
Manitobans like to boast our cold is a “dry cold”. Winters can certainly seem long and can be rather chilly. On the other hand, the sight of a big blue prairie sky with the sun reflecting off the brilliant white snow can be very uplifting. The opportunity for winter activities is unsurpassed, and many Manitobans live for the winters.

3. Lifestyle

Winnipeg is a friendly, multi-cultural city of approximately 700,000, situated in the centre of Canada. It is fairly laid back as a city with a friendly atmosphere, and an unexpectedly rich cultural milieu.

Winnipeg is home to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Opera, and many theatre companies, including Rainbow Stage and Manitoba Theatre Centre. We are also known for our variety of excellent restaurants, serving food from all parts of the world. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Manitoba Moose and the Winnipeg Goldeyes are ever popular for the sports fan.

Summers in Winnipeg are filled with festivals, including the Folk Festival (which is outstanding!), the Jazz Festival, the Fringe Festival, and unique to Winnipeg, Folklorama.

As Winnipeg is in close proximity to numerous lakes, parks and beaches, there is no shortage of places to camp, fish and hike. The summers are sunny and hot for the most part. This also makes ideal weather for many summer sports including ultimate Frisbee, football and running (through our numerous parks).

Winnipeg is also known for its cold winter months. The readily-available snow allows for a variety of winter sports and gives an ideal setting for the Festival du Voyageur.

Finally, Winnipeg is an affordable city, allowing your money to go farther. The cost of housing, in particular, is far more reasonable than in other big Canadian cities. Although Winnipeg does not have the most sophisticated public transit system, it is relatively easy to negotiate Winnipeg’s traffic, and we have our share of die-hard year-round bicycle commuters.

Discover Winnipeg (http://www.discoverwinnipeg.ca/)

My Winnipeg (http://mywinnipeg.com)

Travel Manitoba (http://www.travelmanitoba.com/)