The Vancouver Island Internal Medicine Residency Training Program is a distributed site of the program based at UBC in Vancouver. As such it shares some features with Vancouver, but differs in other ways:

• Our aim is to provide core training in Internal Medicine that is equivalent, but not identical, to that provided in the main program.
• The majority of the training will be delivered on Vancouver Island, largely at the two teaching hospitals in Victoria (Victoria General Hospital and Royal Jubilee Hospital) but also at other sites on Vancouver Island such as Duncan, Nanaimo, Comox and Campbell River. There are some mandatory blocks of experience at teaching hospitals in Vancouver (St Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital) in the first year.
  
• The Vancouver Island IM residents spend their protected academic time over the three years learning medicine in a different format than those in Vancouver. Just like all the new R1s in Vancouver, our R1s start off with two weeks of Boot Camp in Vancouver in July. Next is a series of lectures on all aspects of basic medicine that is videoconferenced every Wednesday afternoon from August to January. In February, our R1s join our R2s and R3s in the IM Academic Full Day series that runs on Thursdays ever two weeks. The academic program is partially resident-driven and covers all aspects of medicine according to a two year repeating schedule which also includes Ultrasound and Simulation teaching. Academic Full Days are protected from clinical responsibilities.
  
• Five days of conference leave every year.
  
• Our residents also have paid access to NEJM+ online training during the 3 years of training.
• OSCEs
• Resident Wellness initiatives and events.
• It is a policy that education is emphasized over service.
  
• We do encourage our residents to join academic and social activities put on by the main program in Vancouver such as the Resident Retreat, Resident Research Day and other social events. In addition, we have developed some activities for local Residents only: the Summer Retreat and end of year Resident Grad and Research Dinner.
  

The Vancouver Island training site will offer some features in addition to those at the Vancouver site:

• There is a mandatory longitudinal outpatient medicine clinic (UMAC RJH) for all residents that gives them “real life” experience in outpatient Internal Medicine supervised by IM Staff. Each resident has their own patients to assess and follow in a clinic block assigned to them (except during out of town blocks).
• Most of the mandated sub-specialty blocks will be delivered on Vancouver Island, largely in Victoria at one of the two main hospitals. Fewer trainees per block will allow for a much more personal learning experience with excellent access to the Attendings.

The program has numerous other features which should attract applicants

• Annual Summer Welcome Retreat
  
• Research & Grad Dinner in the spring