Program Contacts

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Important Information

University of Manitoba Ophthalmology Virtual Open House

    Tuesday, November 22, 2022

    6:30 pm MST

    7:30 pm CST

    8:30 pm EST

 

Please email sandy.rossman@umanitoba.ca to register

 

 

The Postgraduate Medical Education Orientation, which is mandatory, will be held Thursday, June 29, 2023 

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General Instructions

Program application language: English

You are required to fulfill ALL of the most current Provincial Criteria for Canadian Medical Graduates for Manitoba

The criteria can be found at:  https://www.carms.ca/match/r-1-main-residency-match/eligibility-criteria/manitoba/

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Supporting Documentation / Information

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Review Process

Applications submitted after file review has opened on January 10, 2023

Supporting documents (excluding letters of reference) that arrive after file review has opened  on  January 10, 2023

Letters of reference that arrive after the unmasking date on January 10, 2023

All applications will be reviewed by the Residency Program Committee. The Committee will select a group of applicants who will be invited to attend an interview.

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Interviews

Dates:

• February 23, 2023

Selection Criteria

The Section of Ophthalmology at the University of Manitoba is committed to a fair, equitable and transparent application process. We maintain the right to choose the applicants who we feel are best suited to our residency training program. The following criteria will be used as a baseline to determine who will be considered for an interview. However, not all applicants whose file meets our minimum criteria will be offered interviews; only the top candidates will be selected.

• A mature understanding of the nature of clinical ophthalmology practice and the length and challenges of training.

• Scholarly achievement prior and subsequent to entering medicine.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

• Achievement in extracurricular activities with leadership experience.

• A history of health advocacy, formal or informal will be looked upon favourably.

Program goals

ophthalmology. To provide a collegial, inclusive, clinical, and academic environment conducive to learning. To provide excellent patient care.

At the completion of training, our graduates should be ready to enter comprehensive practice or complete further subspecialty training. We endeavour to train both academic and community ophthalmologists comfortable practicing in both urban and/or rural settings.  We strive to be a world-class training program.

Selection process goals

To interview and select the best quality residents that fit within the culture of and mission of our program to train the next generation of ophthalmologists.

To provide a collegial, inclusive, clinical, and academic environment conducive to learning. To provide excellent patient care.

At the completion of training, our graduates should be ready to enter comprehensive practice or complete further subspecialty training. We endeavour to train both academic and community ophthalmologists comfortable practicing in both urban and/or rural settings.  We strive to be a world-class training program.

File review process

Evaluation criteria :

Elective criteria

Interview process

Interview evaluation criteria :

Information gathered outside of CaRMS application

Specifically, we may consider:
Social interaction during program related events
Communication with program administration
Social media
Unsolicited reference letters
Unsolicited email references
Unsolicited verbal information on a candidate's prior performance
Unsolicited feedback from colleagues and co-workers
Other : Though the above are not routinely used, all known information about a candidate may factor into their overall rank.

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   
Other : Not a proper fit for program

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Program Highlights

• Enthusiastic, collegial, and friendly teaching staff with full subspecialty representation

• High staff-to-resident teaching ratio ensures excellent 1-on-1 teaching experiences

•  A large catchment area resulting in high volumes and a good mixture of simple to complex pathology. Excellent supervision while on-call.

•  Elective opportunities locally, nationally, or internationally.

•  Opportunity to do Northern ophthalmology rotations in Manitoba and Nunavut.

•  Early surgical exposure.

•  A new state-of-the-art clinic space in the Misericordia Health Centre opened in 2014.

•  Residents are funded to attend mandatory courses including the TORIC review course in Toronto and the Halifax Ethics Course.

•  Each resident has a budget of $8000 to attend non-mandatory courses with approval from the Program Director.

• Residents are protected from call-duties during the day (they only carry a pager at night/weekends) so that they can focus on their scheduled rotation.

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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.

Overview

The program will ensure comprehensive training in clinical and surgical ophthalmology. We strive to provide a world-class training environment at the University of Manitoba. Our program is committed to becoming better and we encourage resident and staff feedback to help shape and improve our program.  All subspecialty disciplines are represented in our department including uveitis and ocular oncology. There is a robust academic half day program to prepare residents for formal examination, informal seminars, journal clubs, as well as an active visiting professor program and weekly grand rounds. Residents will be expected to present at grand rounds once per year on a topic of their choosing. Surgical training starts early. On-call ophthalmology responsibilities begin at the end of PGY-1. We believe that some of the best learning comes from on-call; call is therefore always supervised by a staff ophthalmologist and the resident is not expected to run solo, unsupervised weekend or evening clinics.

Our graduates have gone on to competitive fellowships in Canada and internationally.

 

PGY1

The PGY1 year will give the resident a comprehensive experience in relevant hospital specialties including medicine, infectious diseases, neuro-radiology, neurology, plastic surgery, emergency medicine, pediatrics & rheumatology. At the end of the year there will be 6 weeks dedicated to ophthalmology to gain familiarity with examination techniques and common pathology. The resident will then finish the year by attending the 6 week basic science course for ophthalmology in Toronto (TORIC).

PGY2

The PGY2 year aims to provide a solid foundation in general ophthalmology. The PGY2 resident will run the morning resident emergency clinic at the Misericordia Health Centre with supervision by staff ophthalmologists within our department. Volume will be dictated by the resident’s ability, and access to all necessary ancillary testing, lasers, and minor surgical procedure areas will be available. Residents will be involved in teaching medical students. The afternoons will be used to rotate through general and subspecialty offices, as well as attend the OR and minor treatment suites.

PGY3-5

Formal surgical rotations begin in PGY3 and the resident will be exposed to and participate in cataract, strabismus, glaucoma, corneal, oculoplastic, and vitreoretinal surgeries commensurate with their ability and level of training. Of note, cataract surgical training begins in PGY3. The resident will rotate through clinical comprehensive and subspecialty rotations during these years as well. They are expected to become proficient in comprehensive ophthalmological skills but can somewhat tailor their experience based on subspecialty interests or perceived deficiencies through selectives/electives.

Research

Residents are expected to be involved in basic and clinical research. The resident must present yearly at our annual research day.

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Training Sites

Primary site: Misericordia Health Centre

Other sites: Children's Hospital of Winnipeg, private offices of teaching staff in Winnipeg, Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface Hospital and the GRMC Vision Centre in Brandon

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Additional Information

In addition to the essential skills and abilities required of all postgraduate medical trainees, applicants to the Ophthalmology Program must also possess the essential skills and abilities necessary to meet the Objectives of Training in the Specialty of Ophthalmology as identified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Such skills and abilities may include, but not be limited to, fine motor skills, normal corrected visual acuity, normal stereopsis and the communication skills and abilities necessary to provide quality patient care. Applicants who may need accommodation to meet these essential skills and abilities must declare such requirements in their application, which shall be assessed in accordance with all applicable laws and policies regarding accessibility and accommodation. Please contact the University of Manitoba’s Postgraduate Medical Education Office for further information.

Additional training experiences above and beyond the traditional medical school curriculum will be considered in a manner that upholds and respects the principles of fairness, equity and professionalism in the application, selection and matching process.  Training experiences that fall outside of the undergraduate medical education will be evaluated using existing institutional rubrics, and weighted in a manner that encourages equity among all applicants.