The UBC GIM Fellowship Program has forged very strong partnerships with Community Medicine Physicians throughout the Province over many years. We mandate all GIM PGY-4 residents undertake a minimum of four Community GIM rotations, in sites such as Nanaimo, Terrace, Victoria, Penticton, Salmon Arm, Campbell River, Duncan, Trail, Nelson and Richmond.

In 2019, with the shift of the Royal College Internal Medicine exam from the PGY-4 year to the PGY-3 year, we revised our academic curriculum to two protected full-days for most blocks. One day for Scholarly Sessions and the other day dedicated to Wellness. The Scholarly Sessions are lectures or workshops on topics relevant to the knowledge, skills and attitudes applicable to the practice of General Internal Medicine. The protected Wellness day is resident-directed, and can be a day to catch up on “life.” This initiative was a great success with residents expressing appreciation for the time gained.

With the residents’ agreement, group activities such as bowling, hiking, curling, bbq etc. can be arranged for further team building. GIM Bootcamp usually occurs during the first week of July each year. This involves Critical Care training, provided by our Critical Care physicians from Nanaimo BC and an overview of Cardiology, especially interpretation of diagnostics. We have numerous team building exercises and social events for (recent events, pre-covid, have included an Escape Room or Stand-up Paddle Boarding).

The Resident’s GIM Journal Club takes place on the same day as the Scholarly Sessions and is well attended by residents and faculty. Each resident is expected to present a recent paper at this journal club during their PGY-4 year. The program also had a robust Social Journal Club prior to Covid and we hope to get back to that for the upcoming year.

We host a GIM Resident and Faculty Research Evening each June. Each resident is required to present at this research evening once during their two years of residency. This can be research they have conducted, a summation of their 5th year, or other scholarly activity they have been involved in.

The PGY-4 year is primarily rotation-based and generally includes the following blocks (contingent on the Royal College required training experiences):

Four blocks of Community GIM

One block of Obstetrical Medicine at B.C. Women’s Hospital.
One block of Perioperative Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital.
One block of Critical Care Medicine
One block of Cardiology
One or two blocks of CTU Junior Attending
Longitudinal Clinic (continues in the PGY-5 year)
The remaining blocks will be scheduled with sub-specialty or other rotations which may include Rapid Access Specialist Clinic, ambulatory Hematology, ambulatory Cardiology, CKD clinic, Health Heart and the Prevention Clinic, and other specialty areas (rheumatology, neurology, addictions, etc.).

It is expected that residents will complete all (or nearly all) the GIM EPAs in the transition to discipline, foundations and core stages during their PGY-4 year leaving the PGY-5 year

The PGY-5 year is incredibly flexible provided the necessary experiences and assessments have been successfully completed in the PGY-4 year. With guidance from the Program Director, residents are permitted to undertake training that is specifically tailored for their intended future practice plans. Some 5th year experiences that residents have undertaken include a Master of Public Health degree at Harvard; specialty training in Thrombosis, Quality Improvement, Ultrasound, ECHO and Obstetrical Medicine; UBC CHES Clinical Educator Fellowship. In 2019 a PGY-5 resident spent a year building the first comprehensively integrated healthcare network in sub-Saharan Africa’s.

Residents are given an allowance of $1,000+ each year (exact amount determined at the beginning of each year) to attend relevant conferences (eg. Rocky Mountain Internal Medicine in November). We strongly support residents taking 5 days per annum to attend conferences. We also provide additional support for time and/or finances for residents who are presenting at conferences.

UBC GIM Residents have a strong voice in the Fellowship Program. We have two representatives from each year sitting on the Residency Program Committee and both the Program Director, Associate Program Director and Program Coordinator welcome and value resident input on improving the program. Residents provide valuable assistance during the CaRMS interview process and also assist with OSCE’s for junior residents in the Internal Medicine Program.