McMaster University - Public Health and Preventive Medicine including Family Medicine - Hamilton
2026 R-1 Main Residency Match - second iteration
Competitive Stream for CMG
Under revision
Last approved on March 03, 2026
Summary of changesApproximate Quota:
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Accreditation status : Accredited
Provincial Criteria
David Braley Health Sciences Centre
MHC 2006 - 100 Main St W
Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 1H6
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI)
Program Contacts
Important Information
Please refer to the CaRMS website for provincial eligibility information CaRMS Ontario Provincial Criteria. All applicants are advised to read these requirements prior to submitting their application
To learn more about the program, upcoming informational events and the McMaster PGME community please visit: https://pgme.mcmaster.ca/carms_r1_match_program_information/
Return of Service
Return of Service (ROS) Requirements:
Additional criteria for CMGs:
Applicants with a ROS agreement in another province should ensure they are aware of the commitments and requirements.
Additional criteria for IMGs:
Ontario’s International Medical Graduate (IMG) Return of Service (ROS) program is intended to improve access to physician services across Ontario, particularly in areas with limited physician supply. The IMG ROS program offers participants a postgraduate medical training position in return for a commitment to practise medicine in an eligible Ontario community. The ROS contract is between the Ministry of Health and the successful applicant, and is the responsibility of the applicant to confirm eligibility with respect to ROS requirements of other provinces. Ontario PGME offices are not involved in this process.
The Ministry requests all ROS agreements before July 1 of the year they were matched. All agreements should be returned to the Ministry prior to the start of residency training.
More information for IMG ROS can be found here: Return of Service Program
If you have further questions, please contact the Ministry of Health at PPUProgramOfficer@ontario.ca
PLEASE NOTE: APPLICANTS ARE REQUIRED TO FULLFILL A ROS COMMITMENT IN ONTARIO IMMEDIATELY UPON COMPLETION OF YOUR TRAINING.
General Instructions
Program application language: English
The McMaster Public Health & Preventive Medicine program has training partnerships with Public Health Units in Hamilton, Waterloo, and Niagara. Residents also have the opportunity to complete rotations in governmental health agencies, such as Public Health Ontario and the Public Health Agency of Canada, and other organizations in the province. These placements offer a wide variety of experiences at different levels of government and in different sized communities, all with unique population health needs and opportunities. Residents are thus offered varied and challenging paths to reach their career objectives.
Residents will apply to a graduate program relevant to PHPM, such as the Master of Public Health or Health Research Methodology program at McMaster, and must meet the requirements of the graduate program. Candidates entering the program with prior academic training, typically a graduate degree relevant to public health, may be eligible to receive some credit from the Royal College for this prior training.
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
• Photocopy of Foreign Passport Showing Citizenship
• 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 valid 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 valid Canadian government-issued photo ID).
Reference letters that speak directly to your interest in and aptitude for Public Health & Preventive Medicine practice are most influential with the Selection Committee. Reference letters from McMaster or the McMaster PHPM program faculty are not mandatory.
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 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.
Custom Résumé / CV Personal LetterThe Program seeks physicians interested in specializing in public health and preventive medicine who will develop competencies enabling them to improve the health of populations, respond to public health emergencies, and guide the use of health resources to improve population health.
The personal letter plays a significant part in selecting applicants for interviews. Different from medical school application, applying to residency is fundamentally applying for a job. As a result, choosing not to answer these questions or submitting a generic letter about your goals as a physician, or why you will be a good doctor, will significantly reduce your chances of being offered an interview.
Please ensure that your personal letter (maximum 1,000 words and in paragraph format) addresses the following four questions. If you have had gaps or extensions greater than one month in your pre-residency training, please also identify and contextualize those aspects of your training journey in a separate section of up to 500 words.
1) Using one or more specific experiences from your life to date, please describe why you are choosing PHPM and why McMaster.
2) PHPM residency training will involve your mastering a discipline incorporating understanding and intervening with both individual patients and populations. How do you envision shifting from the role of a physician for individual patients to one attending to populations?
3) The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant attention to public health practice, public health physicians and public health organizations. Drawing on a specific experience from this time in your life, describe how the pandemic shaped your understanding of PHPM and your motivation to pursue this residency training.
For Question 4, please choose to answer either 4A) or 4B). Please do not answer both.
4A) In 2025, more than one Canadian province reported thousands of cases of measles. Measles had been declared eliminated from Canada in 1998 until October, 2024. In Ontario, cases have been largely confined to relatively closed and geographically limited populations. Immunization rates in these populations have been lower rates in the all-Ontario population. Would you recommend that government intervene to require immunization of people in these populations or focus on surveillance to detect whether measles spreads significantly from these populations?
4B) Using a population health approach, should public health organizations buy and provide bicycle helmets for children or advocate for bike lanes? Assume your resources mean you must choose only one option. Which would you recommend and why?
PhotoIf you have completed a graduate degree, please upload your transcript. Note: applicants do not need to have completed a graduate degree to apply.
Undergraduate Transcript (Bachelor's Degree)The program requires residents to complete a graduate degree related to the specialty and in adherence with the Royal College's objectives of training. The undergraduate transcript provides information that may be relevant to assessing a candidate's ability to complete graduate training.
Medical School DiplomaPlease note: Required if Medical school has been completed.
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
The program director will review applications with the Selection Committee and candidates who have submitted a complete application and meet the interview selection criteria will be selected for an interview.
Selection Criteria
The Public Health & Preventive Medicine program at McMaster assesses candidates on the following criteria (these are not listed in order of priority):
1. Understanding of, Public Health & Preventive Medicine;
2. Academic performance;
3. Sufficient academic ability to be admitted to and complete Master's level training relevant to PH±
4. Suitability for clinical practice or Family Medicine;
5. Oral and written communication skills;
6. Potential contribution to McMaster's program; and
7. Potential impact as a Public Health & Preventive Medicine practitioner.
Program goals
The McMaster PHPM program is focused on training physicians in the tools and approaches for protecting and promoting population health. The program seeks to prepare physicians to function flexibly and effectively in leadership roles in a wide variety of public health and academic/research settings. Residents participate in a combination of block rotations and longitudinal activities. All residents are supported to complete a Master's degree with a primary focus on the tools and methods of public health practise including epidemiology & biostatistics,health protection and promotion, theories of change, leadership and management within organizations.
Selection process goals
Successful applicants will typically demonstrate:
1. Understanding of Public Health & Preventive Medicine (PHPM) and how it is distinct from and related to patient-focused medical disciplines and specialties;
2. Suitability for both clinical practice & PHPM practice, including evidence of use of ethical and other frameworks for decision-making;
3. Oral and written communication skills relevant to clinical practice and PHPM practice;
4. Qualitative and quantitative skills relevant to PHPM practice, including such aspects as epidemiology and biostatistics knowledge commensurate with completion of undergraduate medical training, critical appraisal and literature interpretation skills, and ways of managing interpersonal conlfict and managing teams.
File review process
Review team composition : Each team consists of one faculty member and one resident.
Average number of applications received by our program in the last five years : 0 - 50
Average percentage of applicants offered interviews : 76 - 100 %
| File component | Criteria |
|---|---|
| CV | Selection Criteria: 1,4,6,7 |
| Electives | Selection Criteria: 1,4 |
| Examinations | We do not evaluate this file component. |
| Extra-curricular | Selection Criteria: 6,7 |
| Leadership skills | Selection Criteria: 6,7 |
| MSPRs | Selection Criteria: 2,3,4 |
| Personal letters | Selection Criteria: 1,4,5,6 |
| Reference documents | Selection Criteria: 1,4,7 |
| Research/Publications | Selection Criteria: 2,3 |
| Transcripts | Selection Criteria: 2,3,4 |
Elective criteria
Interview process
Interview format :
We do not re-schedule interviews for applicants after we have completed the scheduling process.
| Interview components | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Collaboration skills | Selection Criteria: 4,6,7 |
| Collegiality | Selection Criteria: 4,6,7 |
| Communication skills | Selection Criteria: 5 |
| Health advocacy | Selection Criteria: 4,6,7 |
| Interest in the discipline | Selection Criteria: 1,4,6 |
| Interest in the program | Selection Criteria: 1,4,6 |
| Leadership skills | Selection Criteria: 4,6,7 |
| Professionalism | Selection Criteria: 4,6,7 |
| Scholarly activities | Selection Criteria: 2,3,4,6 |
Information gathered outside of CaRMS application
Specifically, we may consider:Ranking process
The behavior(s) exhibited below during the interview process may prevent an applicant from being ranked by our program :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.
The Mission of McMaster's Program is found below:
McMaster's Public Health & Preventive Medicine Residency Program aspires to improve and safeguard the health of the public. The Residency Program will promote, attract and support trainees in their pursuit of the highest quality education based on the principles of population health, including disease prevention, health promotion and protection. This academic and community-based program will prepare physicians to function flexibly and effectively in leadership roles in a wide variety of public health and/or academic/research settings with special emphasis on:
- Health needs assessment
- Evidence-based community health practice
- Applied research and program evaluation
- Economic evaluation and health policy analysis
- Occupational and environmental health
McMaster's Program is an integrated approach to training with a minimum of:
1 year of clinical training
1 year of academic work in public health
18 months of public health field placements
Residents are strongly encouraged to complete Family Medicine certification as part of their training.
All residents must fulfill the requirement for 12 months of academic work. Options at McMaster include:
- Master of Public Health (MPH)
- Masters program in Health Research Methodology (HRM)
1) The MPH program is a course-based masters that offers the option of completing a practicum- or thesis-based MPH. Area of focus include policy and management, public health research and environmental health;
2) The HRM program offers both thesis and non-thesis streams; the non-thesis approach is recommended by the program in order to facilitate meeting core Royal College objectives. Courses are available in biostatistics, research and epidemiologic methods, health policy, and economic evaluation, among others.
Typical course of training
McMaster's integrated approach to training is designed to accommodate the components of Family Medicine, the MPH or HRM masters programs, and PHPM field placements.
Residents who choose not to pursue Family Medicine will complete a basic clinical training (BCT) year, with additional field placements in PHPM or academic course work related to their field of interest, to ensure Royal College objectives are met.
PGY-1
This year focuses on the basic clinical rotations required by both the Royal College and Family Medicine, and is largely hospital-based. One month of the PGY 1 year is spent on an Introduction to Public Health in order to orient residents to the available PHPM resources in the community, build connections to the program faculty and residents, and begin preparations for applying to graduate studies.
PGY-2 and 3
Residents complete both Family Medicine training and certification and coursework required for their masters degree (e.g. MPH/HRM).
PGY-4 and 5
By this time, residents will have completed training & certification in Family Medicine as well as their masters program (MPH/HRM) and will now apply their knowledge during senior rotations in PHPM, culminating in the Royal College exams in the autumn of Year 5.
Academic Half Days
Residents spend one half-day per week participating in the program's academic half-day (AHD). AHD includes guest speakers, resident-led rounds, and journal club. Residents pursuing Family Medicine certification participate in the Family Medicine Academic Half Days in lieu of the PHPM Half Days for parts of PGY-2 and 3. Also available to residents are a wealth of rounds and seminars in other departments within the Faculty of Health Sciences relevant to PHPM practice. The Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, which houses and sponsors the program, hosts an annual research day with student and faculty participation.
Research
All residents are expected to gain a reasonable understanding of the principles of research, particularly epidemiologic research, through both coursework and field placements. Residents who wish to have more hands-on experience with research will find numerous opportunities throughout their training.
Training Sites
Resources (both urban and rural)
The Public Health & Preventive Medicine residents at McMaster are able to access a diverse range of sites for clinical and field placements during their training, including:
Hamilton Public Health Services (core site)
Niagara Region Public Health (core site)
Region of Waterloo Public Health (core site)
Halton Region Public Health
Public Health Ontario
Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Province of Ontario
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University
Master of Public Health Graduate Program affiliated with the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University
HRM Graduate Program affiliated with the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University
Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University
Family Medicine Teaching Sites
McMaster's Institute for Health Equity (MIHE)
McMaster's Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis
Ontario Health Clinic for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)
Additional Information
McMaster University's Public Health & Preventive Medicine residency program joins a vibrant resident community and dedicated public health specialists, offering both urban and rural rotation sites within driving distance of Hamilton. As adult-learners, faculty strive to foster life-long learning through active participation in academic half days. Guided by the Royal College objectives, the program is flexible to meet the learning objectives of individual residents and responsive to residents' needs.
Summary of changes
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