An initiative of
Dr. Quinten Paterson
Program Director
Sherri Duggan
Saskatchewan’s Royal College Emergency Medicine training program is run through the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine and has its main training site in Saskatoon and its distributed site in Regina. Founded in July 2011, we currently have 17 residents across all years of training and have graduated 21 specialists from the program, with 16 of those 21 graduates having stayed to work in Saskatchewan. In 2023 we expanded to include Regina as a distributed training site and currently have two residents based at this site, and 15 residents based in Saskatoon.
The College of Medicine, while physically located in Saskatoon, is a provincial resource in attitude and in practice. Postgraduate medical education at the University of Saskatchewan takes seriously its role in supporting quality health care to all people of the province. This means training physicians to meet the needs of, not only urban populations, but also those of rural and remote populations. In so doing, the College of Medicine has developed, and continues to develop, rotations in Saskatoon, Regina, and other communities. These rotations are designed to provide educational experiences to enhance the resident’s knowledge and skills and take maximum advantage of unique educational opportunities in a diversity of communities. All postgraduate programs are expected to develop and incorporate into their curriculum rotations in communities other than their primary training site of Saskatoon or Regina. The way each program does this is not strictly prescribed by the College of Medicine – but is determined by the Residency Program Committee, taking into consideration the needs of their residents, and the excellent opportunities available in other locations. These rotations continue to evolve as we seek to build stronger and better programs.
Extensive support is available for rotations completed at other sites in the province. The exact nature of this support varies with location and program. The communities involved, individual programs, the College of Medicine, and the Ministry of Health work collaboratively to ensure residents are not financially disadvantaged by the need to relocate. Temporary housing is available at no expense to residents who leave their home site to complete short term mandatory rotations at distributed sites in Saskatchewan. Please review the PGME Housing Guidelines for more detailed information.
Residents in the Saskatoon Royal College EM Residency Program should plan to complete 3 blocks of Emergency Medicine in Regina (PGY-1, 2 & 5), 1 block of toxicology in Calgary or New York (PGY-3), and 1 block of regional/rural Emergency Medicine at their site of choice (PGY-4). Residents are welcome to spend more time in Regina for both EM and off-service rotations if they wish.
Our residency program embraces a Competency by Design (CBD) model supported by a coaching-rich assessment framework. Every resident is paired with a Royal College Academic Advisor (AA) and a CCFP-EM Longitudinal Mentor, both of whom work regularly with the resident in the clinical setting to provide consistent, meaningful feedback. This longitudinal relationship fosters trust, insight, and personalized growth.
Throughout their rotations, residents collect Entrustable Professional Activity (EPS) assessments that reflect real-time performance in clinical environments. These are completed by practice exam data and formative feedback from teaching sessions.
Three times per year, residents engage in a structured reflection cycle. They review their assessment data, complete a self-assessment, and meet with their AA to set goals using a locally developed coaching model grounded in self-regulated learning theory. This collaborative summary is submitted to the Competence Committee (CC), where each file undergoes peer-reviewed analysis by a designated reviewer before group discussion.
Following each CC meeting, Program Directors hold one-on-one meetings with residents to review their progress, celebrate milestones, and refine individualized learning plans. These plans are then shared with the resident’s AA and Longitudinal Mentor to ensure on-shift coaching is focused and purposeful. This cycle reinforces resident ownership, promotes lifelong learning habits, and censures every resident is supported on their journey towards independent practice.
Generous Funding & Reimbursement
Protected time & Scheduling Flexibility
Exam Preparation Support
Wellness & Work-Life Balance
Opportunities for Leadership & Teaching
Mobility & Dual-Site Exposure
Strong Program Infrastructure
