Nanaimo

The UBC Postgraduate Family Medicine Residency Program's Nanaimo Site started in 2007. Nanaimo Site has 16 positions, 8 in the R1 year and 8 in the R2 year. The R1 and R2 residents who have matched to Nanaimo have had a rich and valued experience centered at our Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and the surrounding community. The Nanaimo Regional General Hospital has more than 220 acute care beds and a medical staff of more than 200 physicians. All patients admitted to this hospital are admitted under a primary care physician including those with specialist involvement. There are more than 100 faculty members involved in the academic teaching and experiential at this site.

Nanaimo’s central Vancouver Island location makes it an ideal community for Family Medicine learning. Our close proximity to Victoria and Vancouver make connections with support facilities quick, economical and convenient. Many of the specialty clinics within the central Vancouver Island health region are managed and attended by Family Physicians with special interest and expertise. The medical and broad community in Nanaimo has welcomed Family Practice residents within the community.

Each of the family practice residents at the Nanaimo Site is matched to a community family practice clinic. They will follow patients within that family practice clinic during their in-patient and outpatient care needs for their entire 2 years. In circumstances where the spectrum of care provided by a clinic maybe narrowed by preceptor choice, alternative experiences are provided at other clinic settings within the community. Nanaimo has an excellent learning environment focus to the family practice residency program.

The cost of accommodation rental and ownership in Nanaimo compares favorably to other British Columbia locations. Short and easy driving distances between hospital, clinics and homes allows Nanaimo residents to have a healthy and green lifestyle that is envied by many others. Ample social, recreational and cultural activities are available in all four seasons of the year. Our mild climate and adventure culture provides great opportunity for a balanced lifestyle.

Nanaimo is the site of few, but valued Royal College residency physicians. These senior specialty residents do not share or conflict for patient care experiences with the family practice residents. Overlap in rotations is minimal. The rotational curriculum has been set up to give the resident the advantage of the skills and experience available within the community.

Nanaimo has a strong palliative care program delivered by skilled family physicians. Nanaimo has an ICU that is friendly to family practice learners. Nanaimo has a very high volume emergency room that provides excellent teaching and experience for learners. Surgery, Internal Medicine, Low Risk Obstetrics, Child and Youth Health and Mental Health and Addictions are all strong rotations at this site. There is an abundance of role models and mentors to meet residents program support needs.  We continue to develop an effective Musculoskeletal educational experience and an improved access to marginalized at-risk populations.  Residents at this site have outreach opportunity in Yellowknife (Pediatrics), Nepal (Palliative Care), and other culturally unique experiences.

The central UBC faculty and administrative support is impressive. Mandatory UBC wide activities including the residents’ retreat, the department retreat and the residents’ research day are highlights of the year. Rural practice rotation experiences on Vancouver Island are encouraged. Our academic activities are done in 1-week blocks spread throughout the year to allow a strong focus on the academic curriculum in family medicine. Examination preparation is facilitated by practice exam simulation and resident activities. Nanaimo Site has state of the art academic space including high definition video conferencing facilities, resident sleeping rooms, a resident lounge and a human performance laboratory (Simulation Lab). 

Nanaimo is willing and able to assist you in becoming a competent, confident family physician. We hope that you will consider our residency site and that you would consider practicing in the central Vancouver Island region after your residency program completion.

Steve Beerman, M.D., CCFP

Site Director

Nanaimo Residency Site

Welcome to Nanaimo. We are a relatively new program which has quickly become highly desired and competitive. This residency site began in July 2007 and has 16 residency positions, 8 in the R1 year and 8 in the R2 year.

Our residents are a close-knit, independent and active group who take full advantage of the flexibility this program provides. We have a close relationship with our program administration; they are receptive to our suggestions, so change comes quickly.

Unique Aspects of the Curriculum:

Longitudinal Family Practice Time: There is greater emphasis on longitudinal time in the family practice clinic than in other Canadian family medicine residency programs. Throughout specialty rotations, we spend one day a week back in the family practice clinic in which we have a 2-year placement.

Academic Weeks: Academic time is concentrated in one week blocks. During this time, we are all excused from our rotations and are never on call during the day. We gather as a group with our education as a sole focus. The R2‘s are responsible for planning one day a week of academic time for themselves, allowing us to focus on CCFP exam preparation. Academic weeks are a great time to reconnect and recharge with other residents.

Flexibility: Being new, our rotations are very flexible. Each resident has both the responsibility and the flexibility to tailor rotations around their specific needs. The R2 year specifically is meant to be molded to your needs and wants.

Benefits and Drawbacks:

Benefits:

- Specialty residents are rare, so we get to see and do everything!

- Community clinics: all have multiple, keen preceptors who pursue a variety of interests within Family Medicine (Obstetrics, Addiction, Geriatrics, Palliative, etc.)

- Hospital size: large enough to have most specialties, but patient care is still largely directed by family doctors and hospitalists, maintaining an educational focus on full-service family medicine.

- Great ER training: one month in first year plus ongoing evening shifts as you wish. The ER physicians are highly motivated and enthusiastic about teaching residents. It is the busiest ER on Vancouver Island.

- Strong emphasis on education over service - you can mostly determine your own call schedule and have a lot of input into educational activities.

Potential Drawbacks:

- In order to thrive in this new and evolving program, residents must be independent, highly motivated, ethical, and self-aware. There are rarely medical students present, so teaching is mainly limited to peers

-- Being a new program, couple of our rotations are still being developed. We are working on improving the MSK rotation and a new nephrology rotation to be starting soon.

-- In the hospital and most clinics, you will not see a great proportion of HIV/AIDS, aboriginal, inner-city, refugee or youth health unless you specifically seek this out; elective time in second year can easily accommodate remote, international, or urban rotations.

Life Outside of Work:

The term "well-rounded" takes on a whole new significance in Nanaimo. The physicians who run the program have our well being at the top of their priority list. We are encouraged to be healthy, involved in the community and to pursue interests outside of medicine. In Nanaimo and the surrounding areas, there is an abundance of outdoor activities: Hiking, sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, mountain biking, rock-climbing, scuba diving are plentiful and practically at our doorsteps. Skiing and surfing are only a short drive away.

Nanaimo is a beautiful and diverse community of 85,000. Contrary to popular belief, Nanaimo's inhabitants are of a wide variety of ages and come from many different socioeconomic backgrounds. Temperatures are moderate throughout the year. Yes, it rains, but mostly in the winter months! Nanaimo is also a really affordable place to live.

Who Are We Looking For?

We would like to invite those of you who love to learn and love to live. To get the most out of this program, you must be self-motivated and confident in your ability to identify your academic and psychosocial strengths and weaknesses, so that you can mould the program to suit your educational needs. Academics aside, we are a fun-loving and adventurous group and would love to attract other residents who enjoy the great outdoors, whether you're a hard-core adventurer or just looking to take in the scenery. We look forward to meeting you and your partners/families next year. Please feel free to contact us with questions at any time.

Sincerely,

Nanaimo Site Chief Residents