St. Paul’s Hospital is a tertiary care centre in downtown Vancouver with an annual ED patient volume of approximately 90,000. This has been the homesite for the UBC CCFP(EM) program since the program’s inception. With a dedicated staff of experienced, collegial educators, the SPH program has consistently produced successful graduates – many of whom have gone on to become leaders in the field of emergency medicine. Highlights from the SPH site include an ED ECMO program (one of 3 sites in Canada), an ED PoCUS fellowship program, exposure to complex cardiac, renal, and infectious disease cases. St. Paul’s Hospital services the downtown east side population of Vancouver, offering the EM residents one-of-a-kind experiences in addictions and mental health. Our EM residents also attend many of the teaching activities in conjunction with learners from the Vancouver-based FRCP-EM program. Overall, Vancouver itself is a beautiful city offering numerous attractions and outdoor activities to entertain our EM residents when not working

ULTRASOUND

We provide the opportunity for our residents to become certified as a “Independent Practitioners” by the Canadian Point of Care Ultrasound Society (CPoCUS) (https://cpocus.ca/about-us/).

The UBC Department of Emergency Medicine offers a 9 month ultrasound fellowship (http://emergency.med.ubc.ca/education/em-ultrasound-fellowship/). Residents have the opportunity to attend training sessions with fellows and staff during their REEEPO block. Several CCFP-EM residents have gone on to complete the full 9 months of ultrasound fellowship training.

SIMULATION

We make regular use of high-fidelity simulation centres at St Paul’s, Lions Gate and Surrey Memorial Hospitals to deliver a synchronized sim curriculum across all sites. Residents are also key participants in full emergency staffed in-situ simulation training at St Paul’s Hospital.

ACADEMICS

There is a rigorous weekly academic day that consists of various learning opportunities. Every week there is core content that focuses on learning as well as transitioning to practice. These sessions are led by faculty at all sites and videoconferenced to wherever the residents are.

Additional sessions with all EM staff include monthly SPH ED Grand Rounds, monthly Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) rounds, and UBC DEM Provincial Grand Rounds.   Over the course of their training year, EM residents are responsible for giving one state of the art presentation at Grand Rounds and 2 smaller presentations at M&M rounds.

Resident EM-based radiology, ECG and research rounds occur monthly.

All residents are provided with a HIPPOEM subscription for the training year. (https://www.hippoed.com/em/)

All residents attend the St. Paul’s Hospital Emergency Medicine Update Conference in Whistler. https://www.ubccpd.ca/learn/learning-activities/course?eventtemplate=306-20th-annual-st-pauls-emergency-medicine-update

Several EM-specific workshops and courses are given over the year and include:

• • 2-day introduction to “being a great EM resident boot camp” in the first week of the year
  • Cadaver procedure course
  • PALS or APLS course
  • UBC EM research day

There are monthly evening journal club sessions. Each EM resident is responsible for presenting at one of these sessions.

EXAM PREPARATION

There are regular practice oral exam sessions throughout the year. There is a practice written exam in the spring.

SOCIAL

We have several social events throughout the year including a welcome BBQ, the St. Paul’s Hospital Emergency Medicine Update Conference, a two-day winter retreat in January and a graduation party.

FLEXIBILITY

We strive to meet the training needs of each resident and are always open to creating specific training opportunities when possible.