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Dr James Card & Dr Bron Finkelstein
Program Director
Roghieh Soufinia
PLEASE REFER TO THE PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ON THE CARMS WEBSITE FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE INFORMATION
CLICK HERE FOR UBC FAMILY PRACTICE – RURAL IMMERSION SMITHERS TRAINING SITE WEBPAGE FOR SITE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
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
I do expect this list to change slightly over time. If you are thinking about a specific community in particular, please reach out to me. Our plan is to match residents to this program, and then go through an internal matching process for the resident to choose the community of their choice. This is key in ensuring flexibility for the resident in the Rural Immersion program.
To be clear, due to the constraints of the CaRMS process, we cannot match to the individual community sites at the CaRMS level. It is 100% our intention to do our best to fulfill the resident request during the internal match. If multiple Rural Immersion program residents have the same community preference, previous community connection would take precedent. Connection to the community could be previous time in the community, family members living there, previous training in the community, etc. That said, we are highly interested in all applicants with demonstrated rural interest, regardless of location.
Our site is for you if:
You see yourself practicing in a small rural community
You see value in rural family physicians training future rural family physicians in an environment that is similar to your future practice environment
You value autonomy, flexibility, responsibility, and are keen to participate in a program where you are actively involved in curricular development decisions
You value strong relationships with preceptors, patients, and the healthcare team
You have a preference for living in a smaller rural community
You want to develop a solid skill set that will prepare you for independent rural practice. This skill set includes clinic skills, ER skills and hospital-based skills such as inpatient management, obstetrical skills, etc.
This site is probably not for you if:
You want a conventional, rotation-based residency with training by multiple specialties
You want a firm pre-planned schedule for your training, mapped out far in advance
You are uncomfortable with living and working in a small rural community
So what makes us unique?
As mentioned above, the rural immersion site is new and a bit different than anything else out there.
At this site, the resident will be based in a small rural community for the duration of your residency. You will be learning from family physicians and will maintain a flexible schedule such that if there is an experience that comes up [interesting ER case, delivery, specialist clinic, etc.] it is anticipated that you will participate.
You will track your experiences with an online checklist approach.
Any emerging deficits in experience [for example pediatrics] will be identified and a rotation in a larger center will be arranged.
It will be expected that residents meet the full diversity of expected experiences. Beyond that, we are happy to support experiences based on resident interest. It is our hope and intention that this can be achieved within the small rural community as much as possible, but elective opportunities outside of the home community are available.
Once residents match to the site through CaRMS we do an internal match for our communities. We will strive to place the resident in their first choice community. We will always have more communities than residents, so the intention is to be able to support resident choice.
In terms of academic time and administrative support, this site will be associated with the two other sites in Prince George [Prince George and Northern Rural sites].
This will obviously involve some travel. All necessary travel that is approved by the program will be covered as per UBC policy.
All of our community training sites are also teaching sites for the hybrid integrated clerkship, so there is a strong chance that there will be overlap with third-year medical students giving opportunities for teaching.
Who am I?
I am James Card, the site director for the Prince George, Northern Rural, and Rural Immersion Family Practice Programs. I am a UBC 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 Valemount, a community of 1000, three hours away from our referral centers. I am passionate about full-service family practice and Rural medicine. It is my goal to create a program that excels in transitioning residents into competent and confident physicians for Northern and Rural British Columbia and Canada.
Who are we?
Based in Prince George, our team represents the Prince George and Northern Rural sites in addition to the Rural Immersion site. Combined, we are one of the largest and most established of the UBC Family Practice residency sites. We have been training residents out of Prince George since 1995.
The community [communities]:
Each community is different. Some have some specialty services including OR, and others are smaller with only ER and inpatient services within their hospital. There are advantages to both. As mentioned above, any experiences not available in the small community would necessitate a rotation in a larger center. If you want information on any of the individual communities, please don’t hesitate to reach out, I would be more than happy to help answer any questions, and even connect you with preceptors within some of our candidate communities [including myself!]. Most of them are recent Prince George residency graduates themselves.
If you are interested, please do not hesitate to reach out. We have two residents who are currently piloting experiences in two of the small communities. I’d be happy to connect you with them as well if you want their perspective.
I hope to chat with you soon!
Dr. James Card MD, CCFP
Number of Residents: 1 CMG
Curriculum Type: Longitudinal Family Practice
R2 Elective Time: Resident Driven
Contacts:
Site Director: Dr. James Card
Site Coordinator: Roghieh Soufinia
Family Medicine training in BC presents you with many unique opportunities. We are a fully accredited distributed program with 23 training sites and multiple training communities. 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, Lead 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.
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):
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 Smithers 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 Smithers 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 Smithers 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. Smithers is also involved in training medical students as a 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.
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.
Residents can do one month of interprovincial or international electives during their 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.
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, including a current resident at the Smithers Site.
Please feel free to reach out to me by email:
james.card@unbc.ca
British Columbia | |
|---|---|
Gross Annual PGY-1 Salary | $65,332.37 |
Gross Annual PGY-2 Salary | $72,818.39
|
Gross Annual PGY-3 Salary | $79,301.62 |
Gross Annual PGY-4 Salary | $85,318.65 |
Gross Annual PGY-5 Salary | $91,710.67 |
Gross Annual PGY-6 Salary | $97,877.39 |
Gross Annual PGY-7 Salary | $104,271.09 |
Educational Leave | Yes |
Annual Vacation | 4 weeks |
Meal Allowance | No |
Frequency of Calls | 1 in 4 onsite/1 in 3 offsite |
Maternity Leave | 17 weeks, plus up to 78 weeks Parental Leave |
Provincial Health Insurance | 100% Premiums Paid |
Provincial Dues (% of salary) | 1.50% |
Extended Health Insurance | 100% Premiums Paid |
CMPA Dues Paid | Yes, mandatory |
Dental Plan | 100% Premiums Paid |
Statutory Holidays | 2x pay plus extra day with pay |
Long-Term Disability Insurance | Yes 100% Premiums Paid |
Sick Leave | Yes |
Life Insurance | 100% Premiums Paid |
Terms of Agreement April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2022
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