Program Contacts

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Important Information

Please be aware the Ministry of Health has mandated all hospital and health care employers establish, implement and ensure compliance with a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.  The Ministry directive can be reviewed here. Residents matched to any Ontario residency program must ensure they are able to comply with the Ministry directive in order to start training July 1, 2022.  

It is important to understand this is an evolving issue. You are required to review Provincial, Hospital, University and Program information to ensure you are in continued compliance with directives.  

All candidates must meet the Ontario Criteria of Eligibility found here.

MCCQE (Medical Council of Canada qualifying examination) Part 1 results:

Trainees will be required to disclose their MCCQE Part 1 examination results if taken, upon entry into any of the University of Ottawa's training programs. Please note that the MCCQE Part 1 is not a requirement to begin residency. The purpose of this disclosure is to allow for resources to be provided to the few residents who would benefit from extra support early in their residency in an effort to maximize their success.

Failure to meet or provide proof of any of the stated requirements may result in an applicant’s file not being reviewed or removed from the Rank Order List.

 

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General Instructions

Program application language: English

Please visit our website for additional information about our program. 

  

http://www.med.uottawa.ca/psychiatry/eng/index.html

 

 

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Supporting Documentation

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Review Process

Applications submitted after file review has opened on January 31, 2022

Supporting documents (excluding letters of reference) that arrive after file review has opened  on  January 31, 2022

Letters of reference that arrive after the unmasking date on January 31, 2022

Upon opening of the file review period, applicants' files will be reviewed by a member of the Departmental CaRMS selection committee to ensure departmental criteria are met. 

Candidates selected for an interview can expect to be contacted by mid February 2022

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Interviews

Dates:

• February 28, 2022
• March 1, 2022
• March 7, 2022
• March 8, 2022

Selection Criteria

The Ottawa Psychiatry Program is looking for candates who are a good fit. 

We are looking for applicants with the following:

• Hard working
• Creative problem solving capacity
• Strong ability to collaborate with colleagues and patients
• Self directed approach to learning

Program goals

The  Department of Psychiatry, uOttawa will assist its students in developing the required knowledge, skills and attitudes of a current, expert, general Psychiatrist and will enable them to fulfill, with a high degree of professionalism, the expanded roles of Scholar/Educator, Manager, Administrator, Health Advocate, Communicator, and Collaborator (CanMEDS 2000).  Attainment of these goals and the CanMEDS competencies will be measured regularly by rotation specific objectives, by fulfilling the training requirements and passing the certification examination of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Selection process goals

The candidate who would best fit the University of Ottawa Psychiatry Program would be hard working, show creative problem solving capacity, have a strong ability to collaborate with colleagues and patients, and would flourish in a self directed approach to learning.  Files selected for further review are assessed based on strong references (one of which should be from a psychiatrist), the personal letter, and academic success as demonstrated by transcripts and medical student performance records. Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in working with psychiatric patients as indicated by previous training, work, research and volunteer work.  

File review process

Evaluation criteria :

Elective criteria

Interview process

Interview evaluation criteria :

Information gathered outside of CaRMS application

We do not consider any information gathered outside of the CaRMS application and local interview processes.

Ranking process

The behavior(s) exhibited below during the interview process may prevent an applicant from being ranked by our program :
Unprofessional or inappropriate behavior   
Did not attend interview   
Interview performance was not competitive   

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Program Highlights

The greatest strength of our program is the exceptional group of engaged and committed medical educators within the Department of Psychiatry.  Residents have access to an exceptionally wide breadth of expertise within the Department.  Beyond the sub-specialties in Geriatric, Child and Adolescent and Forensic psychiatry, there are staff members recognized at the national and international level for their expertise in many areas including: 1)Addiction Psychiatry, 2)Sleep Medicine, 3)Schizophrenia, 4)Psychotherapy and 5)Psychopharmacology

Other highlights include:

• Strong teaching faculty offering the national review course in psychiatry annually
• Highly personalized and flexible training
• Optional research stream 
• Opportunity to pursue additional medical education training
• Opportunity to pursue inter-provincial and international electives
• No mandatory rural rotations
• Ratio of residents to faculty is 1:4
• Strong psychotherapy program
• Reasonable call frequency
• Opportunities to do rotations in French and English

And finally, living in Ottawa is fun and easy.  Ottawa gives you the opportunities found in large metropolitan region without the constant hustle and bustle.

 

 

 

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Program Curriculum

This residency program is for 5 years.

Program length of training does not exceed the Royal College or College of Family Physicians of Canada standard.

 Content and Sequence of Training: 

Program Stage	Content and Sequence of Rotations Months or 4-Week Blocks
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Transition to Discipline/Foundation	Transition to Discipline stage begins with two blocks in psychiatry.  Foundations stage consists of the remaining blocks  in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Endocrinology; Geriatric Medicine; Adult and Child Emergency Medicine; Neurology, Palliative Care; Psychiatric Emergency Service, Addictions, Intellectual Developmental Disorder and Under-Serviced Psychiatry.
Foundation/Core	Adult General Hospital Inpatient Psychiatry (7 Blocks)   Adult General Outpatient Psychiatry (7 Blocks)							Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (6 Blocks)   Geriatric Psychiatry (6 Blocks)
Foundation/Core
Core	Shared Care (with optional block of PES) (2-3 blocks)			Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (4 Blocks)				Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (6 blocks)
Transition to Practice	7 blocks Electives							6 blocks Electives

 

Description	Duration	Sites in which this training may be taken
Transition to Discipline/Foundations	12 mos	Civic, General & MFH
Foundations- General Hospital Adult Inpatient psychiatry	6 mos	Civic, General, MFH & ROH
Foundations - General Hospital Adult Outpatient psychiatry	6 mos	Civic, General & MFH
Core - Child & Adolescent psychiatry	6 mos	CHEO & ROH
Core - Geriatric psychiatry	6 mos	ROH & MFH
Core - Severe & Persistent Mental Illness	6 mos	ROH, MFH & General
Core -Consultation-Liaison psychiatry	3 mos	Civic, General, & MFH
Core - Shared & Collaborative Care	3 mos	Civic, General,  & MFH
Core - Psychotherapy	8 mos	All teaching sites

 

            Civic     =          The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus

            General =          The Ottawa Hospital General Campus

            CHEO   =          Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario

            ROH     =          The Royal Ottawa Hospital

            MFH     =          Montfort Hospital

           

 

Research

Our program provides a comprehensive seminar series on critical appraisal, quality improvement and research methodology.  All residents are given protected time to complete a mandatory scholarly project that is presented at the Annual Department Research Day. 

Some residents come into psychiatry with keen research interests or develop an interest during their psychiatry training, the research stream option is designed to promote research skills in future psychiatrists.  A research stream allows residents to have a half day off per week throughout their training, starting in PGY2 year, and to take two research electives in their senior years if they choose. 

Residents in the research stream will be directed to key research supervisors in the department and will have additional support and mentorship by the Director of Scholarly Activity and Research Stream.

Education

 

Residents may also choose to pursue academic interests in Medical Education.  All residents receive training in teaching medical students and have the opportunity to teach.  Through our close ties with the Faculty of Education and the University of Ottawa's Academy for Innovation in Medical Education (AIME), residents may choose to pursue a certificate in Health Professions Education or a Masters of Education during their residency.  Protected time can be granted for this. Further information is available at: http://www.education.uottawa.ca/en/graduate.

Curriculum

Our Academic Curriculum consists of didactic and clinical skills development aimed at training residents to become highly qualified psychiatrists.  This includes organized didactic, interview skills, and psychotherapy modules which occur throughout the year.

PGY1:

• Weekly protected half day
• A portion of the year is organized by the University Postgraduate Medical Education Office for all PGY-1 residents covering key CANMEDs Roles.
• A series of lectures focused on Transition to Discipline knowledge:
• Phenomenology and diagnosis
• Interviewing skills 
• Emergency psychiatry
• Suicide and violence risk assessment
• Basic medico-legal issues
• Verbal and Oral Communication Skills
• A series of lectures focused on Foundations of Discipline knowledge:
• Neuroscience series
• Cultural Psychiatry Series
• Management of agitation
• Management of intoxication/withdrawal
• Basic psychopharmacology
• Supportive Psychotherapy
• Motivational Interviewing 

PGY2 -3:

• Weekly protected full day 
• A series of lectures focused on Foundations of Discipline knowledge: 
• Critical Appraisal Skills
• Quality Improvement
• Interview Skills
• Psychopharmacology
• Affective Disorders
• Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders
• Anxiety Disorders
• A series of lectures focused on Core of Discipline knowledge:
• Personality Disorders
• Psychiatric Management Borderline Personality Disorder
• Inpatient Psychiatry Boot Camp
• Outpatient Psychiatry Boot Camp
• Geriatric Psychiatry Boot Camp
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Boot Camp 
• Psychodynamic Psychotherapy 
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Dialectical Behavioural Therapy 
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy
• Group Therapy
• Attend the one-week Ottawa Psychiatry Review Course (PGY2 only)

 

PGY4 - 5:

• A series of lectures focused on Core of Discipline knowledge:
• Advanced Psychopharmacology 
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Short Term Psychodynamic Therapy
• Treatment of Trauma
• Consultation Liaison Therapy
• A series of lectures focused on Transition to Practice knowledge:
• Leadership
• Professionalism
• Social Media Training
• CV development
• Attend the one-week Ottawa Psychiatry Review Course (PGY5 only)
• Attend the one-week London Psychiatry Review Course (PGY5 only)

 

 

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Training Sites

Core training sites are:

 

The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus

The Ottawa Hospital General Campus

Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario

The Royal Ottawa Hospital

Montfort Hospital

Brockville Mental Health and Addictions Resource Centre