The respiratory training program at UBC is a strong two year clinical program, offering experience in a broad range of general and subspecialty respiratory medicine.  The overall goal is to train and develop fully qualified and competent consultant respirologists who are ethically and morally sound, who dedicate themselves to the highest standards of medical practice, and who contribute to the career-long provision of total patient care.

Resources support all areas of Respiratory Medicine and include a full sleep lab, a tuberculosis ward and tuberculosis-specific clinics, a full thoracic surgery service, a lung transplant program, a provincial cystic fibrosis program, a provincial home ventilation program, pulmonary hypertension, occupational/environmental lung disease, severe airways/COPD and interstitial lung disease specialty clinics, interventional bronchoscopy, pleural disease program and ambulatory care units. Ambulatory care experience is also enhanced by participation in a resident-driven longitudinal clinic and community respiratory rotation. Residents will also gain experience in the management of complications related to solid organ transplant and stem cell transplant, as well as a full spectrum of medical and surgical patients.

Dedicated, world-renowned chest radiologists and pulmonary pathologists are located at both core sites, and come together with our collegial group once weekly to present and discuss cases.

Both main hospitals have Interventional Respirologists on staff and further interventional procedures and experience in lung cancer diagnostics and management are available through the BC Cancer Agency.

The program offers 6 blocks of elective time and is committed to supporting research and quality improvement activities.

The UBC Respiratory Division has active research programs across the spectrum of respiratory disease. Fellows are encouraged to work on a scholarly/quality improvement project. Funding for a third year of research may be available through grants and the Clinical Investigator Program, administered by the Department of Medicine.

There is a protected academic half-day (AHD) that runs over the course of 2 years, and residents have input in the planning of educational sessions. Learning opportunities are varied and address all of the CanMEDS roles.  AHD includes an introductory/refresher summer series, journal clubs, exam prep rounds, clinical, radiology and sleep lecture series, graduate level course work in pulmonary pathophysiology, as well as PFT, clinical physiology and pulmonary pathology lectures. The fellows are also encouraged to take advantage of opportunities focused on transition to practice, residents as teachers and wellness at UBC. The AHD schedule will be adapted to reflect the timing of the Royal College examination.

Assessment evaluates competence and also stimulates learning.  The respiratory training program at UBC uses a combination of tools to evaluate trainees including modified ITERs, formal written/OSCE and clinical examination, a personal learning portfolio and multi-source feedback.  Procedure assessment tools have been adapted and other new tools including EPAs that were rolled out for formal CBD implementation in July 2021.

Graduates of our program have gone to work in community (both rural and urban) and have explored additional clinical (sleep, ILD, TB/NTM, asthma, interventional bronchoscopy) and research (Masters, PhD) opportunities.