Program Contacts

---

Important Information

Prospective residents should refer to the Family Medicine Residency Selection website for ongoing updates, deadlines and detailed information.

FMProC: Important timelines

For the 2025 residency selection cycle ALL FM residency programs in Canada require applicants to sit FMProC for those applying in both rounds of CaRMS. 

 

FMProC test window for CaRMS first Iteration is from October 28 (8AM ET) to November 11, 2024 (10AM ET). 

Registration opens from September 11 (12 noon ET) and closes on November 07, 2024 (10AM ET). 

 

To register and find out more about the test please go to www.fmproc.com. All test related updates will be posted on the website. 

Requests to register or to sit the test outside of the posted deadlines will not be considered. 

 

Upon completion of FMProC, you must upload your FMProC result letter to CaRMS for your application to be considered complete.

 

---

General Instructions

Program application language: English

Resident selection for the UBC Family Medicine program is a collaborative process between all of our sites. Logistics and administration of resident selection is managed by our central program office in Vancouver, located at the UBC Point Grey Campus.

As the UBC Family Medicine Program is distributed into 23 unique sites and locations, candidates should apply to each site they are interested in. 
Applicants must submit same application package to all sites to which they apply.  

Regardless of the number of sites applicants apply to and rank, only one interview will be conducted. 

A variety of virtual information sessions will be held to provide prospective residents with the opportunity to learn more about the programs and discuss the training experience with faculty and current residents. Please visit Program Events for upcoming events. 

---

Supporting Documentation / Information

---

Interviews

Dates:

• January 18, 2025
• January 19, 2025
• January 20, 2025
• January 21, 2025
• January 22, 2025
• January 23, 2025
• January 24, 2025
• January 25, 2025
• January 26, 2025
• January 27, 2025
• January 28, 2025

Selection Criteria

Applicants must submit an application to each site they are interested in and should assign the same set of documents to each site. Selection is based on file review and one set of MMI interviews. Each file is reviewed and given a score. This file review score determines whether a candidate is offered an interview. The file review score is then combined with the interview score and FMPROC score to create a total score for each applicant. The file review score will contribute to 20%, interview score will contribute to 75%, and FMProC will contribute to 5% of the overall global score. A recommended rank list based on the total score is submitted to each site for consideration. The sites retain discretion to adjust the recommended rank list based on local site selection committee input.

Program goals

1. To graduate residents who have developed the competencies needed to begin independent family practice in diverse community settings
2. To deliver an effective academic, clinical and scholarly educational program
3. To graduate residents who are inspired, resilient, and balanced
4. To graduate residents who demonstrate evidence-based and reflective practice
5. To provide working and learning environments that ensure residents, faculty and staff feel respected and supported

Selection process goals

1. Identify individuals with an aptitude for family medicine who are most likely to thrive in our diverse residency sites and in the unique context of British Columbia communities
2. Identify individuals with a demonstrated solid foundation of clinical skills and clinical approach which equips them for Postgraduate Education training.
3. Identify individuals who have consistent professional behavior; who interact appropriately with patients, colleagues and staff.
4. Identify mature, motivated individuals with a broad range of life experience which they can draw upon to adapt to the demands of residency training.

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 : 1) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED all seriously interested applicants submit a site specific letter of interest introducing the applicant and speaking to our site specific applicant ranking criteria (see below for details) sent directly to the site directors and/or site coordinator by email.

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 : • File does not support interest in family medicine
• Interview suggests lack of non-cognitive family medicine skills
• Suggestion of culturally unsafe care or language in personal letter, during program related events, or other areas of the application

INDIGENOUS SITE SPECIFIC RANKING PROCESS:
Our site has a unique mandate to train family physicians who will work in a culturally safe way with Indigenous individuals, families and communities to support health and wellness.

Due to our unique mandate and our responsibility to our community partners it is important that we select candidates who have a sincere desire to work in Indigenous communities and who are culturally safe.

We have created a scoring system to determine suitability to our site. A score of 0 - 10 is assigned (0 = weak, 10= strong) based on:
● personal letter (0-2 points)
● lived Indigenous experience (0-2 point)
● sincere interest in training at the Indigenous site (0-2 point)
● relationship with Indigenous people and communities (0-4 points)

The UBC central program sends us the list of students who selected our site and completed the application process. Applicants on this list are ranked by a selection committee using the Indigenous site specific criteria outlined below with scores ranging between 0 and 10.
Where there are applicants with the same score, Indigenous applicants will be prioritized and the remaining order will be determined by the overall UBC ranking.

The Indigenous Family Practice Residency Site may elect not to rank candidates if they feel that they are not suited to the site based on red flags (generally related to culturally unsafe language or behavior) or a poor site specific suitability score. See bottom of this website under “Additional Information” for details on site specific ranking.

---

Program Highlights

Uniquely B.C:  UBC Family Medicine

Family Medicine training in BC presents you with many unique opportunities. We are a fully accredited distributed program with 23 training sites and multiple training communities. In an effort to meet the evolving needs of our society, each site provides a solid foundation in the knowledge and clinical skills of Family Medicine so that our graduates are prepared to practice in a variety of settings. While our program offers diversity of training, it is based on common goals, learning objectives, and assessment standards.

All residents are required to do a mandatory 2-month rural rotation in Family Medicine in their second year. Residents in the Coastal, or rural programs in the Okanagan or the North complete longer rural placements. Residents can also apply to participate in Enhanced Rural training for a total of 4-6 months in rural communities.

There is extensive academic and administrative support for the entire residency program. Our central program administrative team is based in Vancouver on UBC campus. At the site level, leadership teams are made up of a Site Director, Site Faculty, Lead Residents and administrators. Lead Program Faculty provide provincial education support in the areas of curriculum, assessment, faculty development, scholarship and behavioral medicine.

The Family Practice Postgraduate Education Committee has representation from all sites to ensure a connected, distributed program that fully meets accreditation standards. Residents are represented at all levels of governance.

A wide range of amazing recreational and cultural opportunities are at your doorstep, as well as a collegial community of residents and physicians with whom you can learn, grow, and play. We want your experience to be in BC to be a positive and enjoyable one.

Training Sites: Overview

Visit the UBC Family Medicine Postgraduate website for a detailed overview of each of the 23 sites and their surrounding communities.  Each site provides opportunities to experience Family Medicine in their unique context, offering special opportunities to gain experience and skills unique to the area where you are training.

The following is a list of our sites and their base community/hospital. Each site serves the surrounding community (see training sites for full details):

 

Greater Vancouver / Lower Mainland

• Abbotsford-Mission
• Coastal (North Vancouver, Lion’s Gate Hospital)
• Chilliwack
• Indigenous (Greater Vancouver and rural Indigenous communities)
• St. Paul's (Downtown Vancouver, Inner City)
• Surrey South Fraser (Surrey Memorial Hospital)
• Vancouver Fraser (New Westminster, Royal Columbian)

 

Interior Region

• Kootenay Boundary (Trail, Nelson, Rossland, Castlegar)
• Kelowna Rural (Kelowna R1 year; rural communities across BC in R2 year)
• Kelowna Regional
• North Okanagan (Vernon)
• Okanagan South (Penticton)
• Kamloops

 

Vancouver Island

• Indigenous (Victoria, Ladysmith and rural Indigenous communities including Pacheedaht, Penelakut, ‘Namgis)
• Quw'utsun (Duncan)
• Nanaimo 
• Strathcona (Comox, Campbell River and Courtenay)
• Victoria

 

Northern

• Fort St. John (Northeast)
• Northern Rural (Prince George R1 year; rural communities across BC in R2 year)
• Prince George
• Rural Immersion (Hazelton, Smithers, Vanderhoof, Mackenzie, Valemount/McBride, Chetwynd/Tumbler Ridge)
• Terrace (Rural Northwest)

 

IMG positions are offered at the following sites:

• Abbotsford-Mission
• Chilliwack
• Coastal
• Fort St. John
• Kamloops
• Kootenay Boundary
• Nanaimo
• North Okanagan
• Okanagan South
• Kelowna Rural
• Kelowna Regional
• Prince George
• Strathcona
• St. Paul’s
• Surrey South Fraser
• Vancouver Fraser
• Victoria

Resident Support

Resident resilience and wellness is our top priority. Important resources have been developed by our program to support our residents throughout the course of the training.

All UBC programs are allocated a fixed amount of funding per resident for Resident Activities.  This funding is used to provide educational support to residents during their 2 years of training. This includes funding for residents to attend program-wide courses and events. Additionally, residents may identify conferences and educational materials that would supplement their training experience. A discretionary, per resident funding will also be allocated to the sites for a similar purpose at the site level.

---

Program Curriculum

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.

Introduction

This site provides opportunities to develop special expertise in providing safe and appropriate care with and for Indigenous peoples for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous allied physicians. Please note that this site is administered centrally as part of the Indigenous Family Medicine program together with Indigenous – Lower Mainland and Indigenous – Victoria. Information regarding these other specific sites can be found under a separate CaRMS description.

Our program is relationship-based and engaged with Indigenous communities. We work in collaboration with a number of Indigenous communities and their health care teams to provide educational experiences whereby residents are connected within an Indigenous community for the duration of their training.  The residents are welcomed and encouraged to participate in community activities and gatherings in order to help them develop trust with the community they are serving. Our program focuses on supporting residents to engage with communities in a respectful way in order to learn about health and healing with and from Indigenous peoples.

At the Indigenous – Rural Vancouver Island site, our residents have their home clinics based in Stz'uminus/Snuneymuxw/Ladysmith.

 

PGY1 Overview

Family Medicine Orientation	1 block	Start of R1, orientation sessions, introductory clinic days to home site clinics, academic curriculum
Family Practice with integrated urgent care	3.5 blocks	Family medicine, urgent care, and option to self-schedule longitudinal components
Hospitalist	0.5 blocks	Family practice hospitalist rotation including overnight inpatient call (block or longitudinal)
Addictions	0.5 blocks	Addictions clinic and dedicated time to complete provincial opioid agonist treatment training program.
Rural Indigenous FP Rotations	1 block	Residents will spend 4 weeks in Alert Bay working with the ‘Namgis First Nations, Hazelton, Carrier Sekani, or Nisga’a Nation
Pediatrics	1 block	Selective of outpatient peds, inpatient peds, or peds ER depending on availability, funding not always available for selective
OB-LDR	1 block	Victoria, Nanaimo, or Surrey depending on availability, or selective if resident preference
ER	1 block	Nanaimo General Hospital
IM	1 block	Outpatient or inpatient selective
Electives	1.5 block	Resident driven and self scheduled
VACATION	4 weeks	To be taken in two 2 week periods during each half of the academic year

 

PGY2 Overview

R2	Duration	Location/notes
Family Practice Horizontal	3 blocks	Primarily FM home site with option to self-schedule longitudinal experiences in chosen areas (care of elderly, gyne, etc)
Rural Family Practice	2 blocks	Various communities around BC, option to extend rural experience to 4 blocks
Palliative	1 blocks	Duncan or Nanaimo depending on availability
General Surgery/MSK/Procedural Skills Selective	0.5 blocks	Selective, resident self scheduled
Ward/Hospitalist   Psychiatry	0.5 blocks   0.5 blocks	Duncan or Nanaimo hospitalist, or other location if preferred and available Psychiatry selective
Electives block	3.5 blocks	Potential for international electives.Resident driven and self scheduled
Family Medicine Transition to Practice	1 block	Last block of residency, transition to practice with reduced supervision and increased independence, transition to practice curricular time
VACATION	4 weeks	Self scheduled by residents

 

Indigenous Community Visits, Academic Curriculum, and Research

New in 2025/26, our Indigenous Family Practice program will be administering our own academic curriculum. Previously, our curriculum has been administered by partnered sites such as Victoria.

Our curriculum is structured into academic weeks, and clinically focused sessions will include lectures, case-based learning, SIM sessions, hands-on clinical/procedural skills workshops, and exam prep. A highlight of our site is our focus on relationship to each other and the Indigenous communities we serve, and a focus of our academic gatherings is on incorporating Indigenous ceremony and knowledge, community visits and activities, and meetings with Elders and knowledge keepers. We will also have a focus on resident wellness built into our curriculum.

We will have 6 academic weeks scheduled throughout the year. Some weeks will be in-person and some will be virtual. Please note that since we are a distributed program, attendance will require travel which will be reimbursed. Expect to travel a minimum of three times per year for academic/scholarship related travel.

Research requirements are consistent with other sites at UBC. In R1 a small research or quality improvement project is to be completed, either individually or with another resident. In R2, a larger scholar project must be completed, and will be presented at our Indigenous Scholarship presentation at the end of residency.

 

International Electives

Residents can do one month of interprovincial or international electives during their training.

 

Further Training

Third year training positions are available in the area of Emergency Medicine, Care of The Elderly, Anesthesia, Palliative Medicine, Sports and Exercise Medicine, Clinician Scholars program and a wide range of other category 2 Enhanced Skills programs.

---

Training Sites

Ladysmith/Stz'uminus/Snuneymuxw – Ladysmith is located on the eastern shores of spectacular Vancouver Island. It features all the warmth and charm of small town living with a full range of services and amenities. Ladysmith has a population of ~8,500 and is only 100 km north of Victoria and 25 km south of Nanaimo. Stz'uminus First Nation’s traditional territory on east Vancouver Island includes four reserves of more than 1,200 hectares, much of it bordering the Strait of Georgia and Ladysmith Harbour. Stz'uminus First Nation has 1,300 members.
 The Snuneymuxw are a vibrant First Nation of the Coast Salish People, residing in the centre of Coast Salish territory on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, with villages on the Fraser River and waterways in the Gulf Islands. Snuneymuxw territory encompasses one of the most productive and resource rich areas at the heart of the Salish Sea.

Nanaimo Regional General Hospital provides service at the primary care and secondary referral level. It serves an immediate population of 90,000 and a referral population of 160,000. Current acute care bed allocation is 224 and annually there are 76,487 acute patient days, 12,828 admissions, 11, 116 in-and-outpatient surgical operations, 48,000 visits to emergency and 1,179 deliveries. There are 208 physicians on active staff.

Alert Bay / ’Namgis First Nation – This friendly community is well known for its magnificent scenery. Located on Cormorant Island, off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, it is approximately 180 miles by water from Vancouver. Alert Bay has been the traditional home of the 'Namgis' First Nations people and was once a native burial ground. Alert Bay has a population of approximately 550 residents.

---

Additional Information

Please see our site-specific selection criteria:

Criteria for scoring Personal Letter for Indigenous site suitability

0 point:

- no mention of interest in Indigenous health

- description of previous Indigenous health experiences lack cultural safety

1 point:

- establishes sincere interest in Indigenous health

- minimal specific experience working with Indigenous peoples or communities or only those required in their prior programs (ie. One

rotation/elective, mandatory community visits or required courses on cultural safety)

- Has experience in social justice and advocacy efforts in other areas other than Indigenous Health (ie. Serving refugee communities)

2 points:

- states working in Indigenous health as a major or primary career goal

- Previous experiences/electives working with Indigenous communities which are named (i.e. “I worked for two years with Fort Nelson First Nation,

as opposed to I did a Northern elective in an Indigenous community)

- References respectful and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous peoples and communities

- Demonstrates clear understanding of the historical and contextual factors which have led to health disparities in Indigenous communities and a

sincere desire to work towards addressing these

- Demonstrates sincere commitment to the principles of cultural safety and anti-Indigenous racism

 

Criteria for determining Lived Indigenous Experience

0 point:

- does not self-identify as an Indigenous person or uses language that is culturally unsafe to describe their lived Indigenous experiences (i.e. perpetuating stereotypes or prejudices)

1 point:

- self-identifies as Indigenous

2 points:

- Self-identifies as Indigenous AND

- Individual has a strong connection to their community (where they traditional are from or a chosen Indigenous community (ie. Urban Indigenous

communities)

- OR They have demonstrated a sincere interest in learning about their heritage, culture, and/or connection with their Indigenous

family/community.

- OR Has demonstrated a clear desire to be a leader/advocate in Indigenous Health through work/school/volunteer activities

 

*These criteria may not encapsulate everyone’s lived experience and we apologize if you do not see yourself in these descriptions. If you would like to connect with site leadership and/or residents in the program to discuss your unique story / lived experience please do not hesitate to reach out.

 

Criteria to determine sincere interest to train at Indigenous site

0 point:

- no specific contact with site

1 point:

- single e-mail or phone call indicating interest sent to site coordinator, site director or resident

- attendance at a UBC Indigenous Family Practice site Q&A sessions

- has a strong reference letter from one of our preceptors, alumni, and/or an Indigenous physician

2 points:

- has visited or worked with one of our primary training sites

- longitudinal demonstration of interest through multiple connections (ie. emails, phone calls, in-person meetings, info sessions, etc) with the site coordinator,

site directors, residents, site Elder, and/or preceptors

- worked with the site on projects or attended site events (ie. Indigenous Academic Days or the BC IMEG)

 

Criteria to Determine Relationships with Indigenous Peoples and/or Communities

0 point:

- No indication of having spent time in an Indigenous community* or working within an Indigenous context

- No strong personal or professional relationships with Indigenous people or communities*

1-2 points:

- Spent some time in an Indigenous community* in personal or professional capacities.

- Have 1-2 examples of working with Indigenous peoples or on projects that demonstrate a sincere interest in working in Indigenous Health.

- Attends IPAC and/or IMEG events

3-4 points:

- Lived in or grew up in an Indigenous community*

- Have many (3 or more) examples of working with Indigenous peoples or on projects that demonstrate a sincere interest in working in Indigenous Health (including cultural safety and anti-Indigenous racism work).

- Active participant or leader in IPAC, UBC IMEG committee, NCIME, or in other Indigenous medical leadership type roles.

 

*Due to colonialism there are many ways our connection to community and kinship ties have been disrupted. We also recognize that there are different ways we form community because of this. If this is your experience we encourage you to outline this in our site-specific personal letter or reach out by email/phone (if this is something you’re comfortable doing). Our intention is not to further isolate and segregate our community.