An initiative of
Dr. Ramandip Singh
Program Director
Cherie Narynowski
The Adult Rheumatology Training Program at the University of Manitoba offers exceptional clinical exposure, strong educational fundamentals, and excellent opportunities for exposure to clinical, basic science and translational research. Whether the future goal is academic or private practice rheumatology, opportunities for electives allow for an experience tailored to the trainee’s career aspirations.
The Training Program is housed at the Health Sciences Center in Winnipeg. As the only tertiary care rheumatology center in Manitoba, the Health Sciences Centre sees a wealth of complicated rheumatology cases from across the entire Province, Northwestern Ontario and Western Nunavut.
This catchment allows for a wide range of both common and uncommon disorders to be seen in the training program as well as specialty clinics in SLE, Early Arthritis, Scleroderma and Vasculitis.
As a smaller program, trainees have the opportunity to work closely with faculty in a mentoring environment. While there is ample opportunity for clinical exposure it is balanced to allow for optimal learning. Most of the faculty members are actively leading or participating in national or International research initiatives. Two of the faculty members are involved in basic science and translational research and have number of ongoing projects in collaboration with state of art Proteomics laboratory onsite.
Winnipeg is a friendly, multi-cultural city of approximately 700,000, situated in the centre of Canada. It is a city with a friendly atmosphere, and an unexpectedly rich cultural milieu.
Winnipeg is home to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Opera, and many theatre companies, including Rainbow Stage and Manitoba Theatre Centre. We are also known for our variety of excellent restaurants, serving food from all parts of the world. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Winnipeg Jets and the Winnipeg Goldeyes are ever popular for the sports fan.
Summers in Winnipeg are filled with festivals, including the Folk Festival (which is outstanding!), the Jazz Festival, the Fringe Festival, and unique to Winnipeg, Folklorama.
As Winnipeg is in close proximity to numerous lakes, parks and beaches, there is no shortage of places to camp, fish and hike. The summers are sunny and dry for the most part. This also makes ideal weather for many summer sports including ultimate Frisbee, football and running (through our numerous parks).
Winnipeg’s winter allows for a variety of winter sports and gives an ideal setting for the Festival du Voyageur.
Finally, Winnipeg is an affordable city, allowing your money to go farther. The cost of housing, in particular, is far more reasonable than in other big Canadian cities. It is relatively easy to negotiate Winnipeg’s traffic and parking, and we have our share of die-hard year-round bicycle commuters.
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.
The Training Program at the University of Manitoba follows the guidelines of the Specialty Committee for Rheumatology of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. It is a two-year program undertaken by candidates with training in Internal Medicine. Residents must have completed three or four years of General Internal Medicine training prior to entering the program. Royal College guidelines allow for simultaneous completion of the fourth year of Internal Medicine and the first year of Rheumatology training.
The current program is divided into 26 four-week periods as set out by the Postgraduate Office at the University of Manitoba. The current collective bargaining agreement allows for one four-week period per year to be taken as vacation. The rotations are as follows:
| Arthritis Centre Clinics and Consults | 12 periods |
| Community Practice | 2 periods |
| Pediatric Rheumatology | 2 periods |
| Laboratory Investigations and Pathology in Rheumatology | 1 period |
| Non-inflammatory musculoskeletal Diseases | 1 period |
| Electives | 6 periods |
| Vacation | 2 periods |
| 26 periods |
In addition to the various rotations, residents will participate in several longitudinal activities. These include a weekly Subspecialty Residents Clinic, Academic Half Day, Journal Club, and Radiology Rounds. Further, residents will be expected to undertake and present a research project appropriate for their level of training. Call duties never exceed 1 in 4. The Academic half day and the Subspecialty Resident’s clinic continue throughout the whole two years of training whether the resident is doing mandatory rotations or electives.
Arthritis Centre Clinics. The Arthritis Centre Clinic and Consults block consists of 12 periods. Under the supervision of the GFT section members, the resident will attend 5 – ½ day outpatient clinics per week. The resident will see both new consultations as well as patients with established rheumatic diseases. New patients requiring follow-up will be seen in the resident’s weekly longitudinal follow-up clinic (“Subspecialty Resident’s clinic”) on Friday mornings. This clinic is in addition to the 5 scheduled clinics for that week. During these periods the resident will gain exposure to patients with inflammatory arthritides, complex connective tissue diseases, systemic vasculitides and rheumatic complications of systemic diseases encountered in a tertiary care centre. The Subspecialty Resident’s clinic allows for longitudinal exposure to the management of these patients. Subspecialty Residents will continue to attend Academic Half Day during these periods.
Arthritis Centre Consult Service. This experience is combined with 12 periods of Arthritis Center Clinic block. During these 12 periods the resident will learn about inpatient management of rheumatic diseases at the tertiary hospitals (Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface General Hospital). The resident will GAIN invaluable experience in evaluating patients for possible rheumatic diseases or flares/relapses and complications of their known rheumatic illness admitted at these institutes as either inpatients or presenting to the emergency department. Along with the rotating internal medicine residents and medical students the resident will provide consult service on these patients and report to the rotating attending rheumatologist. It is expected that the resident will progress from being very “hands-on” to a more supervisory role as the periods progress and their knowledge base grows.
The Subspecialty Resident’s clinic will continue through these periods and any unassigned inpatients requiring follow-up will be seen by the resident in Subspecialty Resident’s clinic.
Community Practice. These periods consist of several clinics each week in a variety of community practice settings under the supervision of community practice members of the section. These periods provide exposure to different types of clinical rheumatology cases while giving insight into the operation of an office in community practice.
Pediatrics. Residents complete a minimum of 2 months on the pediatric rheumatology service. This consists of 3.5 ½ day outpatient clinics per week, inpatient consults at the Children’s Hospital and specific teaching sessions. Residents will gain exposure to pediatric rheumatic diseases and the unique circumstances related to care of the pediatric patient.
Non-inflammatory musculoskeletal rotation. Residents will spend one period attending outpatient clinics with a variety of musculoskeletal specialists focusing on soft tissue problems such as myofascial pain, mechanical spine problems, fibromyalgia, occupational and sports-related injuries.
Laboratory and pathology Rotation: One four week period is dedicated to learning hands on about the various immunologic tests done in rheumatology. The resident will also spend time reviewing muscle, skin, lung and renal pathology with dedicated experts in these areas.
Electives. Ample elective time is allotted for the resident to explore areas related to their career pathway. External electives are encouraged. These may be research-based, clinical or a combination. Orthopedic, dermatology, osteoporosis, are some of the many possible elective opportunities. If desired, residents may spend extra time in some of the compulsory rotations described above.
Academic Half Day. This compulsory program runs Thursday mornings from September to June. A modified program runs during the summer months. Residents are relieved of clinical duties during this time slot. The program consists of 3 hours each week.
The first hour consists of invited speakers, both local and external focusing both on basic science and clinical aspects of rheumatology.
The second hour of half day will be comprised of clinical-based presentations by the rheumatology resident, rotating residents and students. The third hour of half day consists of a core rheumatology tutorial series covering key clinical and basic science topics in rheumatology. Residents will be given weekly learning objectives and references and will be expected to come prepared to discuss the material.
Finally, there is an interdisciplinary core curriculum half day offered by the PGME office for all residents. When the topic is of value to the rheumatology residents they will be expected to attend. The Practice Management session is considered compulsory by the PGME office.
Subspecialty Resident’s Clinic. The Subspecialty Resident’s clinic allows trainees to follow their patients for the course of the training program. This allows trainees to follow the evolution of rheumatic disease and its treatment over time. This clinic occurs weekly under rotating supervision from the attending rheumatologists. For continuity, patients initially reviewed with one rheumatologist will be scheduled for clinic when that same rheumatologist is present.
Journal Club. Trainees are expected to attend and contribute to a monthly Journal Club held as part of the Academic Half Day. This is an opportunity to review interesting research papers. Both basic science and clinical topics will be reviewed.
Internal Medicine Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds run on Tuesday at 08:00 AM. They are linked to St Boniface Hospital. Trainees are expected to attend.
Radiology. Prior to each Subspecialty Resident’s clinic, films from the previous week will be reviewed with the attending rheumatologist. The program owns an ultrasound machine with one faculty member trained in performing musculoskeletal ultrasound including ultrasound. Introduction to musculoskeletal ultrasound will be done at tutorials at academic half day. Longitudinal exposure will be available through the Subspecialty Resident’s clinic.
The applicants must indicate which publications are in peer reviewed versus non-peer reviewed journals/publications. If the applicant has submitted an article for publication at the time of CaRMS application, the applicant must provide evidence of journal notification of submission. The applicants must indicate all presentations at local resident research day as well as national and international conferences, and any prizes awarded.
A current curriculum vitae (CV) including all relevant information required for assessment of education, leadership, administrative and research experience is mandatory. Where applicable, please document whether activities are voluntary or reimbursed. Your CV should be downloaded to the document section. For research papers that have been submitted but not yet published, please include acknowledgement of submission from the journal.
International or US Medical Graduates Only – you must provde a RCPSC assessment of training form from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada: website: www.rcpsc.medical.org
For the 2022 CaRMS Match all interviews will be conducted electronically. The applicant may meet electronically with a panel of interviewers, or with interviewers individually, or a combination of both.
Please be advised that the 2023 PGME New Resident Orientation Day is scheduled for Thursday, June 29, 2023.
This Orientation is mandatory for all incoming residents.
