Community Medicine Residency Program

Training to become a community medicine specialist

Overview

The U of A Residency Program was approved by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) to accept residents beginning in July 2004. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) establishes specialty training requirements, educational objectives, and certification examinations for Community Medicine. There are requirements for all specialists noted in the documents at Can Meds2000 . Residents may join the RCPSC in order to get access to the members only area, there is no fee for Residents.

The Community Medicine Residency Program is administered by the Program Director.

The Residency Committee has representation from full time and clinical faculty and residents. It meets four times a year to review the program, resident rotations, and set policy.

This Residency Program is one of the post graduate education training programs in the Faculty of Medicine. The Associate Dean oversees all residency programs and sets the general policy for all residency programs. Funding for residency positions is from the provincial government, and administered through the Capital Health Regional Authority. The Faculty of Medicine manages agreements with international health departments in order to sponsor training of selected international medical graduates who on completion of their training will return to practice in their country or origin. A temporary certificate to practice medicine in Alberta can be obtained by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta and medical practice liability insurance from C M P A . The contractual terms and conditions of residents' employment are negotiated by the Professional Association of Residents of Alberta ( P A R A ).

A MPH degree is often completed within the residency training for Community Medicine. The Dept. of Public Health Science offers other academic post-graduate degrees that a resident may wish to pursue. The Faculty of Graduate Studies establishes policies for these degrees, including the fees necessary.

Introduction

Residents can apply to the U of A program either at a Post-Graduate Year 1 level ( PGY1 ) or at the discretion of the program director at a later post-Graduate Year. For advanced standing residents , the duration of training as well as the experience will be tailored for the individual resident to ensure they fulfill RCPSC requirements. The determination of the residents' specific requirements is made by the RCPCS. Application should be made to RCPSC as soon as possible for decisions regarding crediting previous training toward the Community Medicine program requirements. The U of A program match history can be viewed here .

Objectives The U of A program has the following major areas of activities:

Successful completion will train a specialist in Community Medicine who is ready for practice. The RCPSC educational objectives help to ensure that all elements of the Fellowship examinations are met. Application for the RCPSC certification examination must be sent before April 1st in the year preceding anticipated eligibility. Eligibility is based upon the final In Training Evaluation Report. Practice written and oral questions are archived on a limited access University of Alberta Web server. Flexibility within the program permits residents to explore individual interests.

The following list of activities may assist residents in their initial months of rotations as they learn what they need to do to best meet the RCPSC training objectives:

Field Rotations

Field rotations are intended to provide residents with a breadth and scope of public health practice. The content of further field training is a balance between meeting RCPSC educational objectives and developing the residents' capabilities with respect to their career interests. Field rotations that are locally available and in other jurisdictions are listed on limited access University of Alberta web server. Six months of training in an unaccredited setting is conditionally permitted by the RCPSC, conditional on the approval of the Program Director. Examples of elective rotations include international health with UNICEF, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Aerospace medicine at the Defense and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine. The RCPSC accepts up to one year of the Canadian Federal Field Epidemiology Program as a field placement. Residents may explore new opportunities for placements. The External Residency Committee through the Program Director must approve residents' field rotation training.

The responsibilities of residents are according to their level of training. Residents will initially be involved with "show and tell" activities. With increasing experience, residents will be capable of assuming more responsibility. The rotations will have Community Medicine rotation specific objectives to ensure the RCPSC objectives are achieved, additional objectives may be negotiated between Field Rotation supervisors and residents with assistance from the Program Director. Residents and supervisors will discuss the objectives and previous experience in the rotation subject matter, projects and expected outputs. Residents are encouraged to use their initiative in monitoring their progress in achieving the RCSPC training objectives and selecting field rotations to facilitate this.

The supervisor at each field placement is responsible for assigning the resident to a work space. Access to parking, computers, photocopying, faxing, and on-site library facilities etc. need to be clarified by the supervisor. In order to facilitate this process Residents are to contact supervisors 4 weeks in advance of the rotation to remind them of the upcoming rotation and identify any special needs.

Residents are to receive a mid-rotation assessment to review performance, objectives, and plan further activities. At the end of the rotation the Rotation supervisor is to complete rotation assessment and review it with the resident.

A list of specific field rotations locally available is maintained on a limited access University of Alberta web server. At the end of each rotation, residents are required to complete a web based Evaluation administered by the postgraduate medical department through the Faculty of Medicine.

Residents also expected to update their personal copy of the RCPSC Community Medicine Training Requirements with the specific objectives met in the rotation. The Program Director will review the In Training Evaluation Report and the Evaluation with the Resident.

The final PGY5 year is usually spent as chief resident and fulfilling the role of a medical officer of health.

Chief Resident

The responsibilities and time commitment required for administrative, clinical, and teaching duties of the community medicine chief resident will be defined by the Community Medicine Residency Program Director. This document will be reviewed annually no later than July 1st during a joint meeting of the past chief resident, new chief resident, and residency program director.