Red Deer is a rural family medicine training stream within the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta. We strongly believe that future rural physicians should train in the setting in which they will practice. The training program is rigorous and comprehensive with acute care rotations to challenge and build confident and competent family medicine practitioners. There is also a strong emphasis on resident wellness and student support.

Rotations:

PGY1 

• Rural Family Medicine – 16 weeks
• General Surgery/Surgical Subspecialty – 8 weeks
• Electives  – 4 weeks
• Emergency Medicine – 4 weeks
• Psychiatry- 4 weeks 
• Orthopedics – 4 weeks
• Pediatrics – 4 weeks
• Geriatric – 2 weeks
• Anesthesia – 2 weeks
• Addictions- 3 weeks
• Dermatology- 1 week

PGY2

• Rural Family Medicine – 16 weeks & 8 weeks
• Internal Medicine – 8 weeks
• Electives  – 6 weeks
• Obstetrics – 6 weeks 
• Gynecology – 2 weeks
• Emergency Medicine – 4 weeks
• Pallative Care – 2 weeks

PGY1 Overview:

The first year of our program includes a mix of hospital based specialty rotations and an extended rural family medicine block. Specialty rotations are often shared with other FM residents and sometimes with fellowship residents from Edmonton or Calgary. Preceptor based learning ensures excellent access to clinical cases and individual teaching which is usually one-on-one. Because clinical services are not dependent on the presence of house staff, on-call is often from home and learning experiences are focused on education more than service. The 16 week rural family medicine rotation may be scheduled at any time within the first year. This prolonged exposure ensures a true experience of comprehensive care and continuity of care with a limited panel of patients for whom the resident can start to feel truly responsible. Additionally, there is the option for residents to do an integrated rotation in Camrose that combines the first year family medicine blocks with longitudinal experiences in General Surgery, Obstetrics, and Internal Medicine. There is an additional 5 weeks of elective time that residents can use to tailor their learning to their individual needs & interests. Residents are assigned a Faculty Advisor at the beginning of their first year. This will be one of the Site Co-Directors who will follow their progress and provide academic advice throughout the 2 years of training.

PGY2 Overview:

There are further specialty rotations in second year but the main thrust of PGY2 is to develop the resident as a rural family physician, building on the knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired in the first year. The key rotations are two additional rural family medicine blocks of 8 weeks and 16 weeks duration. These rotations provide further opportunities to experience comprehensive medicine and continuity of care in a rural setting. There is an option to do the 8 week rural family medicine rotation in Whitehorse.