Program Contacts

---

Important Information

Prospective residents should refer to the UBC Family Practice Postgraduate Program website for ongoing updates, deadlines and detailed information.

For the 2026 residency selection cycle, all family practice residency programs in Canada require applicants to sit the FMProC for both rounds of CaRMS. FMProC assessments are valid only one admission cycle. For those who have previously taken the FMProC, they need to retake it if they are applying to family practice residency this cycle.

 

For all applicants, registration for this cycle’s FMProC opens September 10, 2025 (12 noon ET) and closes October 30, 2025 (12 noon ET).  Test window is from October 23 (12 noon ET) to November 06, 2025 (12 noon 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. 

 

 

---

Return of Service

The IMG stream is subject to a Return of Service (ROS). Successfully matched applicants are required to sign a contract with the Ministry of Health as a condition of accepting a medical residency position. Templates of the ROS contract and allocation details can be reviewed on the MOH ROS website here: International Medical Graduates - BC

---

General Instructions

Program application language: English

Resident selection for the UBC Family Practice Postgraduate Program is a collaborative process between all 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 Practice Postgraduate Program is distributed into 23 unique sites and locations, candidates should apply to each site they are interested in. 
Applicants must submit the 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

---

Review Process

Applications submitted after file review has opened on November 27, 2025

Supporting documents (excluding letters of reference) that arrive after file review has opened  on  November 27, 2025

Letters of reference that arrive after the unmasking date on November 27, 2025

---

Interviews

Dates:

• January 17, 2026
• January 19, 2026
• January 20, 2026
• January 21, 2026
• January 22, 2026
• January 23, 2026
• January 24, 2026
• January 26, 2026
• January 27, 2026

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 a comprehensive and structured review process that includes the following components (and weights):

• file review (50%),
• standardized MMI interview (45%)
• FMProC score (5%).

 

The ranking process follows this general flow:

• The file review determines whether an interview is offered.
• Scores from the file review, MMI, and FMProC are used to calculate each applicant’s overall global score.
• A global rank order list is created from the overall global scores.
• The global rank order list is given to each site.
• Some sites will use this as their own final rank order list, while some sites may make their own adjustments to this list based on local site selection committee deliberation. Please also see the “Information gathered outside of CaRMS application” section below.

 

Our teams of file reviewers and interviewers consist of the following representatives from our program’s many diverse sites:

• clinical faculty
• faculty leadership (including the Program Director)
• senior administration
• senior residents from our program’s many diverse sites.

 

All assessors are required to

• complete Implicit Bias and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) training within the last two years
• declare any Conflicts of Interest
• sign Confidentiality Agreements per applicable UBC policies.

 

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

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

---

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 Practice Postgraduate Program 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, Quesnel)
• Terrace (Rural Northwest)
• Indigenous

 

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

St. Paul’s (IMG) Site offers opportunities to gain experiences in Inner City Medicine, HIV/AIDS, Addiction Medicine, Palliative Care and Indigenous Health, along with highly acclaimed rotations in Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Rural Medicine, and our own Family Practice Teaching Service. We focus on the development of strong clinical skills and independent judgment through experiential learning with excellent Family Medicine and specialty support in both community-based and hospital settings.

PGY 1 Overview

The site is organized on a traditional block system, with exposure to the basic specialty areas in the first year along with 10 weeks of family medicine. Each week, residents are expected to spend a half day with their family practice preceptor to ensure continuity of care. For one month, the resident will work alongside a Canadian trained colleague on the Family Practice Teaching Service and share the patient care responsibilities. Not all of the rotations will be at St, Paul's Hospital and other hospitals in the lower mainland such as Mount St. Joseph and Children's and Women's.  First year residents will also get to complete a 4-week rotation in a rural family practice setting where they can obtain some basic exposure before their mandatory 2-month rotation in the second year.  There will be opportunity for horizontal electives and/or secondary preceptorship during the FP rotation in the second year.  

Rotation	Duration	Location / Notes
Family Practice	12 weeks
Rural Family Practice	4 weeks
Family Practice Teaching Service	4 weeks
Obstetrics/Gynecology	6 weeks
Emergency	4 weeks
Pediatrics	8 weeks
Surgery	2 weeks
Internal Medicine	4 weeks
Elective	4 weeks
Vacation	4 weeks

PGY2 Overview

In the second year, there will be ample elective time for the resident to pursue areas of particular interest in preparation for practice. In addition to spending time with their preceptor in Vancouver, each resident will be required to spend 2 months in a small town or rural area of B.C. This will be good preparation for future practice as the IMGs will have a return of service contract to fulfill in a practice-focused under-serviced population.

Rotation	Duration	Location / Notes
Rural Family Practice	8 weeks
Family Practice  (Includes 2 weeks of Practicum)	11 weeks
Family Practice Teaching Services	2 weeks
Specialty Selective (ICU / Delta EM / Ridge Meadows EM / MSJ EM / Rural EM)	4 weeks
Palliative Care	2 weeks
Psychiatry	4 weeks
Geriatrics	2 weeks
Addiction Medicine	2 weeks
Care of Workers	1 week	Longitudinal
Women’s Health	2 weeks	Longitudinal
Pediatrics	2 weeks
Electives	9 weeks
Vacation	4 weeks

Academic Days and Research

Residents attend mandatory academic activities – usually a half day per week. This includes academic teaching which is a mix of clinical case discussions and core topics. Residents are also expected to do presentations and teaching. Throughout the program, we stress "Evidence-Based Medicine" in both academic and clinical areas.

Once a year, St. Paul’s Hospital IMG residents join their peers from St. Paul’s Hospital CMG Site and Coastal Site for a day-long Scholarship Day.

In the first year, residents will be expected to complete a quality improvement project. Throughout the two years, residents must complete a scholar project and present their work at Scholarship Day.

International Electives

Residents can do one month of interprovincial or international electives during the second year of 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.

For IMGs, these positions can be accessed only with the permission of the Area Health Authority where the Return of Service will be contracted.

---

Training Sites

St. Paul's Hospital

Majority of the specialty rotations take place at St. Paul's Hospital located in downtown Vancouver. This is a tertiary referral hospital of 480 beds including obstetrics, and it has a very busy emergency department. Training in Pediatrics may take place at Children's Hospital or in community clinics. Other elective experience may occur at different locations in British Columbia. St. Paul's has been a teaching hospital for residents and interns for the past 70 years and has a proud reputation for the quality of its teaching programs. St Paul’s Hospital faculty have unrivalled experience in the teaching of IMGs.

*In addition, several lower mainland as well as rural hospitals will be accessed during rotations.

All hospital and community teaching locations have access to electronic medical resources.