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Dr. Robyn McLaughlin

Program Director

Alicia MacDonald

Program Administrator
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Program Highlights

The IWK Health Centre is the major referral center for the Maritimes and also the only dedicated pediatric hospital in Nova Scotia, this means residents get exposure to a high volume and wide variety of common and rare pediatric presentations. The IWK also has every pediatric subspecialty except for adolescent medicine. We have wonderful dedicated faculty and allied health who want to see residents succeed clinically as well as in their scholarly and advocacy work. We encourage residents to push themselves while also providing appropriate back up.

  • We are a reasonably small program with few subspecialty residents, this allows for more hands on training and 1:1 time with faculty.
  • The Maritimes has many excellent community/rural pediatrics experiences to choose from.
  • We have piloted many aspects of the new Competence By Design (CBD) curriculum, educated faculty, learned lessons, made changes and are excited and fully launched in July 2021.
  • We have a cohesive, supportive happy group of residents.
  • Halifax (and the rest of the Maritimes) has a friendly community feel.
  • Halifax is a rapidly growing major urban center, it is walkable and there are many places to live near the hospital.
  • There are lots of nearby restaurants, activities and green space.
  • It is a short and quick drive to get out of the city with lots of nearby lakes, trails and beaches.
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Salary Information

Post graduate salaries and benefits differ by province and are determined by two things: your training year, and the province you work in. See below the salaries and benefits for Dalhousie University - Pediatrics - Halifax.
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island
Gross Annual PGY-1 Salary
$69,867
Gross Annual PGY-2 Salary
$75,527
Gross Annual PGY-3 Salary
$80,646
Gross Annual PGY-4 Salary
$85,988
Gross Annual PGY-5 Salary
$91,777
Gross Annual PGY-6 Salary
$97,968
Gross Annual PGY-7 Salary
$103,870
Gross Annual PGY-8 Salary
$110,897
Educational Leave
Yes
Annual Vacation
4 weeks
Call Stipends
Yes
Frequency of Calls
l in 4 in-hospital and for home call
Maternity Leave Top Up After One Year’s Service
eligible for up to a maximum of 17 weeks top-up allowance for maternity/pregnancy leave
Provincial Health Insurance
Yes
Extended Health Insurance
Yes
Provincial Dues (% of salary)
1.30%
CMPA Dues Paid
Yes
Dental Coverage
Yes
Statutory and Floating Holidays
Paid
Long-Term Disability Insurance
66.7% of salary
Life Insurance
$100,000 of insurance
Sick Leave
Yes
Updated June 21, 2023

Visit the MarDocs website.
https://www.maritimeresidentdoctors.ca/

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Explore Location

Halifax cityscape from water
Halifax
Halifax, an Atlantic Ocean port in eastern Canada, is the provincial capital of Nova Scotia. A major business centre, it’s also known for its maritime history. The city’s dominated by the hilltop Citadel, a star-shaped fort completed in the 1850s. Waterfront warehouses known as the Historic Properties recall Halifax’s days as a trading hub for privateers, notably during the War of 1812.

Resident Experience

Sonja MacDonald
PGY1
In your opinion, what are the highlights of your program?
We would all probably agree the people make the program exceptional, and that includes the patients and their families. The kindness and friendliness of the east coast makes it an amazing place to learn and practice. Additionally, the program really supports developing your skills to work at a senior level early on. Buddy call shifts, regular morning teaching and weekly simulation are big highlights, too!
I feel my residency learning thus far has been very much tailored to my personal learning goals, my strengths and interests. The best aspect is feeling supported and valued as a team member. Having taken a maternity leave half-way through first year, my schedule is ‘off cycle’. The PD, admin and staff have been responsive, respectful and helpful and made it an easy transition back during a busy time. My co-residents are amazing, too, and I’m always excited to work alongside them.
The size of our program makes our resident group become close knit community. There is always someone to chat with, cheer you on, discuss all the high and lows of residency and life together and grab a coffee or ice cream with. The same goes with our staff. They are invested in us as individuals and create a safe supportive environment for us to learn in.
Outside of residency, my time is occupied by my two little kiddos, husband and our dog. We love being outside and I try to be as active as I can be in my free time. Halifax is a very family friendly city, so there are always activities or events to enjoy together. We especially love the local lakes and beaches and can enjoy them year-round.
Our residency group has a wellness committee that organizes regular events and activities together. We also make a point of celebrating one another through personal milestones, professional achievements and being present and checking in with one another during challenging times. Our program director and staff have a strong focus on our wellness and are great advocates for us.
In the next year, I am most looking forward to attending CPS Annual conference in Halifax; becoming a PGY2 and am most excited to move into our new house!

Frequently Asked Questions

We fully launched CBD in July 2021. Residency programs at Dalhousie are now required to have 10% of training outside of Halifax Regional Municipality, we are working on options for residents to take advantage of the excellent learning opportunities outside of the IWK. We are dedicated to continuous quality improvement, our committees make smaller changes based on feedback and changes in healthcare needs.

Yes! Dalhousie medical students do pediatric rotations at the IWK, Saint John Regional Hospital and in many of the smaller communities so there are lots of opportunities for informal teaching. One of the major roles of the senior resident on the Pediatric inpatient Medical Unit is teaching junior learners. Residents also teach their fellow residents in the last hour of our academic half day and get feedback. We have a unique selective rotation (Senior Teacher) dedicated to improving teaching skills with a variety of opportunities to choose from. Our PGME also offers an elective in medical education for senior residents.

Our resident research advisor starts meeting with all PGY 1s in the first 3-6 months. There is a great deal of flexibility in the type of scholarly project to cater to residents’ personal interests and career goals (e.g. Quality improvement, clinical research, literature reviews, advocacy). In PGY 1 all residents have a rotation together called the academic skills course. Here residents learn and practice a variety of skills including critical appraisal, grant writing, REB submission and have time to work on their project proposals and get feedback. Residents have dedicated time in PGY 2 and 3 to work on their scholarly projects. Our scholarly project reporting form helps residents keep on track. Our department will fund residents to present their scholarly work at conferences.

 

We have a graduated call schedule. Our residents generally do 1 in 4 call in PGY 1 and 2, 1 in 5 call in PGY 3 and 1 in 7 call in PGY 4. Our residents cover a variety of different inpatient services while on call (patients admitted under general pediatrics, cardiology, endocrinology gastroenterology, hematology/oncology, nephrology, respirology, rheumatology). One of the advantages of this is that residents are exposed to many different pediatric specialties throughout their training. During transition to discipline residents do 10 buddy calls with a more senior resident. For the first 5 calls in the PICU residents are also buddied with a more senior resident. Residents do call in the PICU throughout PGY2-4 to help with continued exposure to high acuity patients throughout the year. We do not have a night float system except when residents rotate through the NICU.

 

Our residents have protected time to attend mock codes once per week in the Emergency Department trauma bay. They also participate in monthly hospital wide mock codes. We have 3 full academic half days dedicated to simulation each year. Residents get additional sim experience during their emergency medicine and NICU rotations.