University of Ottawa - Plastic Surgery - Ottawa
2026 R-1 Main Residency Match - second iteration
Competitive Stream for CMG
Last approved on March 03, 2026
Approximate Quota:
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Accreditation status : Accredited
Provincial Criteria
501 Smyth Rd.
Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8L6
University of Ottawa - Division of Plastic Surgery
uOttawa Plastic Surgery Instagram Page
Program Contacts
Important Information
All candidates must meet the Ontario Criteria of Eligibility found here.
COVID-19 vaccination
Please be aware that most, if not all, hospitals in Ontario have mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in place that require, in the absence of a valid medical or human rights exemption, proof of vaccination. Acceptable vaccination must be in accordance with Health Canada. You will be required to provide an attestation that you meet this requirement as part of the CaRMS application process and any actual documentation will be collected by the appropriate institution if matched. These guidelines could change at any time in accordance with future direction from the Ministry of Health or the Universities based on information from Public Health.
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.
General Instructions
Program application language: English
All candidates must meet the Ontario criteria of eligibility https://www.carms.ca/match/msm/eligibility-criteria/ontario/
Please be sure you have reviewed and understood the requirements for your application before submitting.
Supporting Documentation / Information
• Canadian Birth Certificate or Act of Birth
• Certificate of Canadian Citizenship
• Confirmation of Permanent Residence in Canada
• Passport page showing Canadian Citizenship
• Canadian Permanent Resident Card (both sides of card)
• Proof of Protected Person / Convention Refugee Status
• Certificate of Indian Status / Aboriginal Status or Makivik Society Card
• Canadian Citizenship Card (both sides of card)
Proof of valid current citizenship or permanent resident status must be provided by submitting one of the following verifications to CaRMS by the File Review Opening deadline. Failure to provide valid proof will result in your application being removed. No other forms of verification are acceptable:
- Notarized/certified photocopy of Birth Certificate/Act of Birth issued by an authority in Canada accompanied by photo ID (must be Canadian government-issued photo ID).
- Failure to provide proof of citizenship will result in the removal of your application. No other forms of verification are acceptable.
- Documents must be notarized/certified photocopies. Notarized/certified copies must be dated and not older than two years from the date of application submission deadline; otherwise, a new notarized/certified copy is required.
- Confirmation of permanent residence must be accompanied by a photo ID (must be a Canadian government-issued photo ID).
Your Casper assessment result is sent directly to CaRMS from Acuity Insights. Please ensure that you give Acuity Insights permission to share your results with CaRMS.
Applicants who take the test in the first iteration of the current match are not eligible to rewrite the test in second iteration. The Casper assessment is only valid for one admissions cycle. If you have taken the assessment in previous years, you are expected to re-take it.
To register for the Casper assessment visit www.takeCASPer.com.
Three reference letters are required.
Reference Letters from Plastic Surgeons are preferred, but not required.
Reference letters from residents or fellows are not acceptable.
Late references will not be considered.
Consistent with the AFMC measures established in response to the Québec physicians’ strike, we will implement the following accommodations for applicants from Québec faculties of medicine and for applicants from other Canadian faculties who had planned visiting electives in Québec during this time.
- We will accept reference documents completed by any physician able to support the applicant’s candidacy.
- We will not require reference letters from physicians practising in the same discipline as the program.
- Applicants are required to submit two (2) reference documents but are permitted to submit up to the maximum of three (3).
Your personal letter should not exceed 500 words and should answer the following four questions:
- Why are you interested in completing a residency program in Plastic Surgery?
- Why are you interested in completing a residency program at the University of Ottawa?
- What is unique about you as an applicant?
- What would you contribute to our Plastic Surgery program?
Your medical school transcript can be submitted through one of the methods below:
- Obtain your medical transcript from your school and upload it directly to your CaRMS Online account. Follow your school’s policy regarding accessing or requesting your transcript;
- Ask your medical school to upload your medical transcript through their CaRMS Undergraduate Portal account; or
- International (IMGs) and United States (USMGs) medical graduates can transfer their transcript from their physiciansapply.ca account.
For current year Canadian medical graduates (CMGs), there is no action required from you. Your medical school will automatically submit your MSPR to CaRMS on your behalf for you to assign.
If your MSPR is in a language other than the program language of English or French, you are required to have the document translated.
For applicants from Québec faculties of medicine, as well as those from other Canadian faculties who had scheduled visiting electives in Québec during this period, we will accept incomplete MSPRs for file review and ranking purposes.
An incomplete MSPR is one that may be missing final assessments from placements expected to be completed by the date of submission but delayed due to the strike. A complete MSPR will not be required as a criterion for file review or ranking for these applicants.
Review Process
Applications submitted after file review has opened on March 17, 2026
Supporting documents (excluding letters of reference) that arrive after file review has opened on March 17, 2026
Letters of reference that arrive after the unmasking date on March 17, 2026
Selection Criteria
Candidates are selected based on a comprehensive assessment of their application (file review) and an interview. The processes followed for each of these are described in the appropriate section of this Program Description. The file review and interview score are combined in order to generate the final CaRMS rank list.
Program goals
The Ottawa Residency Training Program provides trainees with the essential tools and foundational principles of surgery. This will include trauma, surgical emergencies, fluid balance, nutritional support, intensive care, and the management of pre and post-operative care.
During the Surgical Foundations blocks, the resident will gain experience and proficiency in areas felt necessary to the training of a Plastic Surgery resident, obtained by rotations on assorted medical and surgical services. There is a shared responsibility for patient care in our health care system, which includes the primary care physician, allied healthcare workers such as nurses and physiotherapists, and specialists in other fields of medicine such as Anesthesia, Radiology, Pathology, Rheumatology, Dermatology, Oncology, and other medical and surgical subspecialties.
During the course of the residency the resident must acquire knowledge of basic science necessary to the understanding and practice of Plastic Surgery. They must also acquire the skills necessary for critical appraisal and for continuing medical education. Residents must demonstrate appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes relating to gender, culture and ethnicity pertinent to Plastic Surgery, and an ability to incorporate gender, cultural and ethnic perspectives in research methodology, data presentation and analysis.
Upon completion of the residency training program, the graduating resident will be competent to function as a physician in Plastic Surgery.
Selection process goals
- Excellent academic record
- Proven interest in Plastic Surgery
- High level of professionalism and ethical practice
- Collegial personality
- Demonstration of intiative, self-direction as well as ability to perform within a team setting
- Engagement in life-long learning/self-directed learning
- Honesty and integrity
- Ability to participate in academic endeavours such as research and teaching for the purposes of both learning and contribution to the Plastic Surgery community as a whole
File review process
Review team composition : The Residency Training Program Selection Committee consist of the Program Director, Program Administrator, Faculty Members from various Ottawa Hospital sites (Civic Campus, General Campus, CHEO) and Two Resident Representatives.
Average number of applications received by our program in the last five years : 0 - 50
Average percentage of applicants offered interviews : 0 - 25 %
| File component | Criteria |
|---|---|
| CV | Educational background, elective experience, research experience, extracurriculars, work experience |
| Electives | Breadth of electives in a variety of disciplines AND some plastic surgery specific electives |
| Examinations | We do not evaluate this file component |
| Extra-curricular | Interests outside of medicine that contribute to personal fulfillment |
| Leadership skills | Previous experience in leadership positions |
| MSPRs | Strong academic performance |
| Personal letters | Clear explanation and justification for interest in Plastic Surgery as a career |
| Reference documents | Attestation from supervisors concerning suitability of candidate for a career in Plastic Surgery |
| Research/Publications | Participation in academic research |
| Transcripts | Academic performance and successful completion of all pre-requisites |
| Other file component(s) | Note: Personal Letter word count limit is 500. |
Elective criteria
There will be NO requirement for electives in Plastic Surgery in the evaluation of applications.
Interview process
Interview format :
We do not re-schedule interviews for applicants after we have completed the scheduling process.
| Interview components | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Collaboration skills | Describes teamwork experiences in a healthcare/ other setting. |
| Collegiality | Kind, and professional interactions with the everyone throughout the interview process. |
| Communication skills | Clear, concise and focused verbal and non-verbal interactions; appropriate emotional intelligence. |
| Health advocacy | N/A |
| Interest in the discipline | Demonstrated knowledge of its scope of practice; exposure to the field clinically or for research. |
| Interest in the program | Demonstrated knowledge of offered training experiences; asks relevant questions about program. |
| Leadership skills | Evidence of leading groups, being captain, having great responsibility in healthcare/other setting. |
| Professionalism | Evidence of good moral reasoning, compassion, commitment and resilience in medical/other scenarios. |
| Scholarly activities | Describes experiences conducting research; describes future interests in research. |
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 :Program Highlights
1. Resident Aesthetic Clinic
There is a comprehensive curriculum in aesthetic surgery. This commences early in training. It involves exposure during the community rotation in the PGY2 year and proceeds in a stepwise fashion until the PGY5 year. The pinnacle is the resident aesthetic clinic in which residents exercise a large degree of autonomy in managing aesthetic patients. There are only three programs of this kind in Canada. This represents a significant achievement for a small program.
2. Microsurgery lab annually beginning in 1st year
Residents participate in 4-6 microvascular simulations on an annual basis as part of a comprehensive microvascular curriculum. Taking place in our state of the art surgical skills centre, a faculty member works with 2-3 residents in a progressive program that incorporates simulated biological tissue, and live animals to perform free tissue transfer and microvascular anastomosis.
3. International electives
This program is unique as multiple faculty participate in surgery and surgical education in the developing world. There are also options to engage in global health rotations closer to home. All residents have the option to participate in this program. This is a superb opportunity to interact with a diverse array of populations.
4. Anatomy dissection labs
Residents spend two months of each year in the anatomy lab to simulate the elevation and transfer of free tissue transfers as well as perform routine surgical exposures. This is designed to provide exposure to microvascular reconstruction and to consolidate and solidify knowledge of surgical anatomy.
5. Division Research Assistant
Residents have access to a division research assistant for resident projects.
6. Funding for courses and conferences.
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.
CURRICULUM
The Ottawa Plastic Surgery Program (and all other Plastic Surgery programs in Canada) commenced a Competence By Design (CBD) Framework from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada on July 1, 2020. All residents hired before this date will continue in the traditional framework. All residents hired after this date, including the current applicant year, will be evaluated using CBD.
Within CBD there is a Competence Continuum that organizes residency into 4 Stages of Training: Transition to Discipline, Foundations of Discipline, Core of Discipline, and Transition to Practice. The existing curriculum from prior years has been reviewed and adapted to the new CBD framework to ensure that residents achieve competence in all of the Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) required of a practicing Plastic Surgeon. All teaching and assessment has been reviewed and modified as needed to achieve this goal.
For practical purposes of scheduling and rotation planning, residency is still divided into 5 post-graduate years, although the CBD stages of training do not necessarily correspond exactly to the PGY levels. Although under the CBD model, length of training is not necessarily fixed to a specific duration for all residents, it is anticipated that the length of training for Plastic Surgery Residency at the University of Ottawa will continue to be 5 years. Training may be extended if residents do not achieve all EPAs and competencies by the end of 5 years. Shorter length of training is possible under CBD, although would likely only be feasible in exceptional circumstances.
Stages of Training
Transition to Discipline (TTD)
This stage of training occurs primarily during the first 2 months of residency during the PGY-1 year. Residents rotate on Adult Plastic Surgery for Blocks 1-2. There is a general orientation to the concepts of CBD and the assessment platform used at the University of Ottawa (Elentra).
Foundations of Discipline
This stage of training occurs roughly during the PGY 1-2 years.
The rotations during PGY 1-2 have been designed to provide overall comprehensive surgical training, to allow residents to achieve competence in all applicable Plastic Surgery EPAs, and to allow for completion of all EPAs required for Surgical Foundations.
PGY1&2 - These years are part of the Surgical Foundations Program and it is anticipated that, at the end of them, residents will be prepared to sit the Surgical Foundations and MCCQE II examinations.
Rotations satisfy the specialty requirements and will be selected from:
Emergency medicine
Orthopaedic surgery
General surgery
MOH's
ICU
Plastic Surgery (12-13 blocks)
Otolaryngology
Vascular
Neurosurgery
Oculoplastic Surgery
Oral Surgery
Burns - 2 blocks in PGY 2 or 3 in a Burn Unit in another city
Core of Discipline
This stage of training occurs roughly during the PGY 3-4 years and first half of PGY-5.
Residents rotate through all teaching sites and services to obtain a comprehensive exposure to all facets of Plastic Surgery.
Transition to Practice
This stage of training occurs roughly during the final 3-6 months of PGY-5. Residents will continue to rotate on Adult Plastic Surgery, although will focus their learning on acquiring additional skills required of a practicing Plastic Surgeon.
PGY3-5 - These will provide exposure to all domains of Plastic Surgery in tertiary and community settings. There will be an opportunity for an elective outside the city in a field mutually agreed upon by the resident and program committee. There are 2 one-month elective blocks in the 4th year. There will be graded responsibility, including chief resident responsibilities in terms of supervision, teaching, and patient management, fulfilling all the Canmeds requirements.
ACADEMIC
In the first 2 years of training, there are weekly Surgical Foundations lectures and structured learning events under the auspices of the Surgical Foundations Program Director.
The weekly academic activities are composed of:
1- Seminar series that occur every Friday morning and are organized following a 2 year cycle so that there will be exposure to the majority of subjects at least twice over the training time. These seminars will be prepared by the resident with a supervising faculty member.
2-Journal Clubs will be held monthly to encourage critical appraisal and evidence-based practice.
3- Microsurgical Labs (Dry Labs scheduled in the morning and periodically in the afternoons (approximately 4-6 total per year).
4- Rounds - Hand and Wrist Rounds are held every Wednesday mornings, Patient Safety (M&M) Rounds held every third Wednesday of the month and Specialty Specific Case-Based Rounds held every Thursday mornings From September to June.
RESEARCH
Second to fifth year residents will be expected to produce a paper worthy of publication in a peer-reviewed journal for presentation at annual Resident Research Days and at national meetings each year. There will be support for this in terms of protected time, finances for meetings, and statistics/study design from within and outside the Division of Plastic Surgery.
Training Sites
Ottawa Hospital - Civic Campus, General Campus, Riverside (outpatient) sites
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)
Queensway Carleton Hospital
Arnprior Regional Health Centre
Almonte General Hospital
Toronto - Ross Tilley Burn Centre & Sunnybrook
Private Facilities in both Ottawa and Gatineau
Additional Information
Career Counselling
The Ottawa Plastic Surgery Residency Training Program is committed to career counselling and support for all residents throughout their training.
The process of career planning and counselling is longitudinal in nature and evolves as the resident passes from PGY-1 to program completion. The objective of the career planning/counselling process is to support each resident in achieving their short and long-term career goals. To facilitate this, the program has a dedicated faculty member that aids in career-planning, timelines, opportunities for career exploration through electives, mentorship, and support for fellowship and job application. Career counselling meetings is usually occur semi-annually but is also an ongoing process throughout the academic year.