UBC Family Medicine

Family Medicine training in BC presents you with many unique opportunities. We are a fully accredited distributed program with 20 training sites. In an effort to meet the evolving needs of our society, each site provides a solid foundation in the knowledge and clinical skills of Family Medicine so that our graduates are prepared to practice in a variety of settings. While our program offers diversity of training, it is based on common goals, learning objectives, and assessment standards. All residents are required to do a mandatory 2-month rural rotation in Family Medicine in their second year. Residents in the Coastal, or rural programs in the Okanagan or the North complete longer rural placements. Residents can also apply to participate in Enhanced Rural training for a total of 4-6 months in rural communities. There is extensive academic and administrative support for the entire residency program. Our central program administrative team is based in Vancouver on UBC campus. At the site level, leadership teams are made up of a Site Director, Site Faculty, Chief Residents and administrators. Lead Program Faculty provide provincial education support in the areas of curriculum, assessment, faculty development, scholarship and behavioral medicine. The Family Practice Postgraduate Education Committee has representation from all sites to ensure a connected, distributed program that fully meets accreditation standards. Residents are represented at all levels of governance. A wide range of amazing recreational and cultural opportunities are at your doorstep, as well as a collegial community of residents and physicians with whom you can learn, grow, and play. We want your experience to be in BC to be a positive and enjoyable one.

Training Sites: Overview

Visit the UBC Family Medicine Postgraduate website for a detailed overview of each of the 23 sites and their surrounding communities.  Each site provides opportunities to experience Family Medicine in their unique context, offering special opportunities to gain experience and skills unique to the area where you are training.

The following is a list of our sites and their base community/hospital. Each site serves the surrounding community (see training sites for full details):

Greater Vancouver / Lower Mainland

• Abbotsford-Mission
• Coastal (North Vancouver, Lion’s Gate Hospital)
• Chilliwack
• Indigenous (Greater Vancouver and rural Indigenous communities)
• St. Paul’s (Downtown Vancouver, Inner City)
• Surrey South Fraser (Surrey Memorial Hospital)
• Vancouver Fraser (New Westminster, Royal Columbian)

Interior Region

• Kootenay Boundary (Trail, Nelson, Rossland, Castlegar)
• Kelowna Rural (Kelowna R1 year; rural communities across BC in R2 year)
• Kelowna Regional
• North Okanagan (Vernon)
• Okanagan South (Penticton)
• Kamloops

Vancouver Island

• Indigenous (Victoria, Ladysmith and rural Indigenous communities including Pacheedaht, Penelakut, ‘Namgis)
• Quw’utsun (Duncan)
• Nanaimo
• Strathcona (Comox, Campbell River and Courtenay)
• Victoria

Northern

• Fort St. John (Northeast)
• Northern Rural (Prince George R1 year; rural communities across BC in R2 year)
• Prince George
• Rural Immersion (Hazelton, Smithers, Vanderhoof, Mackenzie, Valemount/McBride, Chetwynd/Tumbler Ridge)
• Terrace (Rural Northwest)

IMG positions are offered at the following sites:

• Abbotsford-Mission
• Chilliwack
• Coastal
• Fort St. John
• Kamloops
• Kootenay Boundary
• Nanaimo
• North Okanagan
• Okanagan South
• Kelowna Rural
• Kelowna Regional
• Prince George
• Strathcona
• St. Paul’s
• Surrey South Fraser
• Vancouver Fraser
• Victoria
• Resident Support

Resident resilience and wellness is our top priority. Important resources have been developed by our program to support our residents throughout the course of the training.

All UBC programs are allocated a fixed amount of funding per resident for Resident Activities.  This funding is used to provide educational support to residents during their 2 years of training. This includes funding for residents to attend program-wide courses and events. Additionally, residents may identify conferences and educational materials that would supplement their training experience. A discretionary, per resident funding will also be allocated to the sites for a similar purpose at the site level.

Program Curriculum

This residency program is for 2 years.

Program length of training does not exceed the Royal College or College of Family Physicians of Canada standard.

**In order to be considered for any sites in the Rural Immersion program you need to directly contact the co-site director to express interest, james.card@unbc.ca**

Introduction

Hi, welcome to the Chetwynd/Tumbler Ridge Rural Immersion site.
The Rural Immersion program will be entering its second year and is unlike any other family practice residency site out there! If you see yourself practicing in a small rural community following graduation, or if you are looking to better hone the skills necessary to become a total clinician, please read on!

Why choose this site?
– more resident autonomy with a focus on flexibility
– more responsibility and hands-on training from the beginning and throughout the two-year residency, compared to other rotational schedules
– education that is tailored to smaller communities requiring a larger skillset, optimizing preparation for practice in those environments
-experience longitudinal medicine, where better understanding of care is developed and follow up with patients is ensured
– build strong relationships with your preceptors, patients, and local healthcare team in a smaller, close knit setting – you will be a member of the team, and a member of the community
– the opportunity to live in an amazing small rural community!

Description:

As a resident at this site you will be based in Chetwynd/Tumbler Ridge for the duration of your residency. There will be opportunity for any needed experience in larger centers throughout the two years depending on exposure gaps identified. The learning is independent and autonomous, where schedules are developed alongside the family practitioners within the community.

Your residency experience is very much a unique individual training experience. Unlike other rotational components, the curriculum will be managed through a checklist approach, with overall objectives aligning with the other UBC sites. There are no specific or planned rotations. The curriculum will be achieved through an integrated longitudinal approach where residents work in numerous rural family practice roles (rural FPs do it all!)

It is anticipated that the vast majority of curriculum objectives will be achieved in Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge with rural family physicians training future rural family physicians!

The site would primarily be supported by the administration team based in Prince George [Prince George and Northern Rural]. There would be local administrative contacts as well. Academic time would be shared with the Prince George programs, with in-person attendance for hands-on sessions, and virtual attendance otherwise. Resident events such as the CARE course, scholar day, and resident retreats would be shared with the other two Prince George programs. As travel is more frequent in this stream, there is a more flexible approach to travel reimbursement. Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge are also involved in training medical students as hybrid ICC sites, offering ample teaching opportunities for the resident. There is currently a FP R1 (will be R2 July 2025) based at the site as well.

Thanks for reading this through!
Please reach out with any questions. This is a great opportunity for applicants that are looking for a career in rural practice and want to be actively involved in helping to shape their own education by tailoring the residency experience towards their own learning goals.
Email me with any questions, james.card@unbc.ca

I am James Card, the co-site director for the Prince George, Northern Rural, and Rural Immersion Family Practice Programs. I am a Northern Medical Program graduate and a graduate of the Prince George Family Practice Residency Program. I am currently a rural physician with my clinical practice in the small community of Valemount. I am passionate about full-service family practice and Rural and Remote medicine and I love the North! It is my goal to create a program that excels in transitioning residents into competent and confident physicians for Northern and Rural British Columbia.

Academic Days and Research

Residents attend mandatory academic activities – usually a half day per week. This includes academic teaching which is a mix of clinical case discussions and core topics. Residents are also expected to do presentations. SIM sessions are frequently part of the weekly academic time.

In June of each year, residents will come together for a mandatory Site Specific Scholarship Day in Prince George.

In the first year, residents will be expected to complete a quality improvement project. Throughout the two years, residents must complete a scholar project and present their work at our local [Prince George] scholarship Day.

International Electives

Residents can do one month of interprovincial or international electives during their training.

Further Training

Third year training positions are available in the area of Emergency Medicine, Care of The Elderly, Anesthesia, Palliative Medicine, Sports and Exercise Medicine, Clinician Scholars program and a wide range of other category 2 Enhanced Skills programs.

Training Sites

I am more than happy to provide information about any of the individual Rural Immersion communities. I’m also happy to connect you with one of the 6 residents who are currently in the program across our multiple sites.

Please feel free to reach out to me by email:
james.card@unbc.ca