Highlights of the Core Internal Medicine Training Program at the University of Manitoba include:

All residents will train over three sites, including two tertiary care sites (Health Science Centre and St. Boniface Hospital) and one Community training site (Grace General Hospital). 

We serve a catchment area of over 1.5 million people, including all of Manitoba and areas of Nunavut and North Western Ontario.

With the exception of Cardiology and Respirology there are no sub-specialty wards. This results in a very diverse and acute patient population on CTUs, with sub-specialty services providing consultant advice.

There is early opportunity for patient care responsibility and leadership in a supervised setting. All of our PGY1 residents senior on the CTU in their first year of training.

We use a night float system to limit the number of overnight (24 hour) call shifts residents are required to do. This system consolidates overnight work, allowing for more consistent work hours and study time on other rotations.

Residents may, at the discretion of the program director, choose to do 4 — 8 weeks on a research elective, in lieu of a sub-specialty rotation.

There are opportunities for up to two inter-provincial and international electives over the three years.

Academic half day is mandatory protected time on Tuesday afternoons and the content covers core Royal College objectives.

The University provides residents with access to electronic medical resources including Up-To-Date, MD consult and numerous electronic journals.

We have a high quality research curriculum delivered through academic half day, including a faculty supervised monthly journal club. We have two research facilitators that help residents find research projects and mentors. Residents are required to present at our Resident Research Day in their second and third years of training.

PGY1s are trained in acute medicine and response team leadership as part of the Medical Emergency Training Through Simulation (METTS) curriculum portion of their boot camp.

The University of Manitoba has excellent simulation facilities, available to all programs and residents for both training and exam preparation. Residents participate in a two day simulation ACES (Acute Critical Events Simulation) course during each of PGY1 and PGY2, to help them prepare for core Critical Care rotations.

Every CTU is equipped with a handheld ultrasound to assist with diagnoses and bedside procedures. All residents have early and ample opportunity to participate in supervised procedures including thoracentesis, paracentesis, central line insertion and lumbar puncture.

We offer local elective experiences in all sub-specialty areas of Internal Medicine.

The program size fosters connection and collegiality with residents and faculty. The program is attentive and responsive to individual needs of our residents.

We have two annual fully funded resident retreats that offer an opportunity for residents to connect and explore non-medical expert areas of training.

And in addition…

The residents in the program come from a diverse array of backgrounds. The largest proportion are University of Manitoba grads, with representation from most programs around the country and a few schools from abroad.

The residents often socialize outside of work and many are on recreational sports teams together (like Ultimate Frisbee and Sponge Hockey, etc.). Other organized activities within the program are discussed elsewhere — retreats, etc. Outside the Internal Medicine program, the residents’ professional association (PARIM) sponsors many gatherings for residents from all programs with food and beverages throughout the year. There are usually two formal evenings sponsored by PARIM per year, and numerous informal events.