Program Contacts

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Important Information

First iteration

To participate in the first iteration of the R-1 match, you must be a medical student or graduate who has obtained, or is in the process of obtaining, a medical degree by July 1 of the match year from an institution that meets the criteria, as indicated on the CaRMS website:  https://www.carms.ca/match/r-1-main-residency-match/eligibility-criteria/

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Return of Service

 This program has a return of service obligation attached to it.  Please review the provincial criteria for more information:  https://www.carms.ca/match/r-1-main-residency-match/eligibility-criteria/ontario/

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General Instructions

Program application language: English

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Supporting Documentation / Information

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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

Both resident and faculty members are involved in our file review process.  All complete files will be reviewed by members of our selection team, and selected candidates will be invited for interviews.   Please note a complete file MUST include an updated Curriculum Vitae.  Unfortunately, we are not able to offer interviews to all applicants, and those who we are unable to interview, or assigned to a waitlist, will also be notified.  Once notified, requests for reconsideration of status will not be accepted.  

Files will be reviewed from November 27, 2025 and an e-mail notification of results will be sent to candidates by January 6, 2026.  We will also update the candidates' interview status online.

Selection Criteria

All IMG applicant files are initially screened by results of standardized testing.  Minimum performance standards are decided by members of the selection committee (RPC) each year, and change with the variability of the applicant pool.  IMG applicants who meet minimum performance scores on standardized tests will be provided the same process of file review as described above for CMG candidates.  Each file is evaluated on a number of merits, including, but not limited to, academic potential, interest in scholarly activities, leadership in extracurricular activities, strength of reference letters, and the candidate's personal statement. Our program values a broad range of electives, both within and outside of Pediatrics.  For electives in Pediatrics, the program may contact any elective supervisor listed on your CaRMs application.  After reviewing the documents, selected applicants will be offered a virtual interview. 

Not all applicants meeting the minimal requirements will be offered an interview.  The final ranking process is determined primarily by a combination of file review and interview scores.

In addition,

• Candidates must meet the published provincial restrictions, available at https://www.carms.ca/match/r-1-main-residency-match/eligibility-criteria/ontario/ 

• Proof of MD Degree, i.e., marks, diploma, etc.

Students applying in the last year of medical school will need to submit their most recent marks/transcripts, and will need to provide proof of their MD prior to the start of residency training.

Graduation from medical school within the past 3 years OR graduation from medical school within the past 8 years AND active medical practice within the past 3 years.

• Preference will be given to candidates who can demonstrate familiarity with the Canadian or North American health care system. Examples include formal practice in a Canadian or American jurisdiction (Canadian experience preferred), beyond the regular medical school program. Research experience in Canada and clinical observerships are an asset but considered less valuable than training or work experience.

• Assessment Verification Period - All IMG candidates accepted to residency training programs (FM and specialty) will be required to undergo an Assessment Verification Period (AVP). This assessment period is 12 weeks in length and is required by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to meet its licensure requirements. If the candidate does not successfully complete the AVP, he or she must withdraw from the residency training program.

Program goals

Schulich Postgraduate Training in Pediatrics focuses on training excellent, well-rounded general pediatricians. Though we value and support applicants with ultimate career goals in subspecialties, our primary promise is to have each individual trainee reach their full potential as a general pediatrician first, across all area of the CanMEDS spectrum and CBME (Competency Based Medical Education). We believe this allows our residents to thrive in a wide range of future child health careers - whether in community or academic settings, general or subspecialty practice, and across local or global contexts.

Selection process goals

During the CaRMS selection process, the program uses multiple selection criteria to attempt to best identify candidates who will excel in a program which stresses the global and holistic development of the general pediatrician. To best embody this, our program has defined that learners need to have demonstrated personal ownership of their education, which will be measured in academic potential, leadership contributions to medicine and/or community, and scholarship activity. Equal weight is given to multiple areas of academic and community contribution, with evidence of scholarship being awarded but not to a greater weight than other measures of personal and professional accomplishment.  The selection committee considers diverse life experience and exceptional circumstances that are well addressed in personal statements, and will be taken into account during the overall evaluation.  We have few prescriptive notions of what specific set of experiences are required for application to our program. Representation and diversity in the pediatric community are extremely important to us, and we encourage all students who are passionate about child health to apply.

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   

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Program Highlights

Our pediatric postgraduate training program at Western is a medium sized program that recognizes each individual learner is a unique and essential team member. We aim to guide learners to find their best professional selves, acknowledging that every individual brings a unique and diverse complement of experience, interests and skills to the program. Our faculty are engaged with the general pediatric training program, and take our responsibility to provide a stimulating, safe, and equitable learning environment extremely seriously.

Some of the important details are listed below:

ROTATIONS 

Rotation schedules are created by program leadership and administration by March/April of each year.  Matched PGY1 residents will be sent scheduling options and asked to rank preferences for the PGY1 year when available. We have 13 four-week rotation blocks per academic year. This provides more rotations than needed to schedule all of the Royal College rotation requirements for training in Pediatrics and the flexibility for accommodating individual resident interests through rotation planning.

There is an extensive elective opportunity in the program. Residents may undertake provincial, interprovincial and international electives. International experiences require early planning and appropriate training prior to departure.  All electives must be supported by Royal College Objectives with appropriate supervision and assessment.

We have Junior Call blocks for PGY-1 and PGY2-residents, and Senior Call blocks for PGY-3 and PGY-4 residents, which provides better continuity of care and on-call learning experience compared to traditional intermittent night call. As a result, our residents have minimal post call days during rotations. In preparation for transition to practice, our PGY-4 residents run a biweekly General Pediatrics Continuity Clinic; they are assigned to the same supervisor/practice during the year and are the first point of care for their own patients. PGY-4 residents are also Junior Consultants on CTU.

CURRICULUM

We have a comprehensive 2.75-year teaching rounds curriculum for PGY-1 to PGY-3 residents that is based on the Royal College Pediatrics Competencies. Residents have protected time to attend noon hour teaching rounds twice weekly, and a weekly 3-hour academic halfday. In July and August of each year, our curriculum includes a daily noon hour orientation seminar series for PGY-1 residents and a separate review curriculum for PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents. This PGY-1 "Summer Series" is considered essential by the program for new residents.  It allows for consolidation of entry level pediatric knowledge, and allows designated time for our new groups of trainees to get to know each other as a cohesive group.  Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) training are organized by the program in the summer for all incoming residents and recertification for PGY-3 residents. The curriculum is reviewed and modified during biannual quality improvement cycles based on learner needs, and learner and faculty feedback.

Late PGY3 and PGY4 residents have a separate Transition to Practice Curriculum that is developed with input from our PGY-4 residents, and in collaboration with our PGY-4 Faculty Lead(s). This Transition to Practice Curriculum focuses both on practice readiness, clinical skill refinement, and elements of Royal College certification exam preparedness. This curriculum is protected time for PGY-4 trainees and is independent of the PGY1-3 curriculum.

Teaching sites in the program outside of London are linked by videoconferencing and online web-conferencing to enable residents to participate in the Academic Teaching Rounds and Academic Half Days.  Curriculum is delivered by a mix of in-person and virtual platform.

CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Patient care responsibilities are structured for each PG year to ensure a graduated increase in responsibilities. For example, PGY-1 residents are buddied with a PGY-2/3 for call. Starting in the PGY-2 year, residents are then responsible for supervising junior residents and clerks when on- call for CTU.  In July 2021, we have transitioned to Competence By Design (CBD) model, and promotion between stages is being used for CBD trainees to further guide graduated responsibility.

Scheduling of on-call, post-call, vacation etc.  is done in accordance with PARO guidelines (http://www.myparo.ca/).

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

The ratio of residents to faculty is 1 resident to 2.5 faculty, with active recruitment for a number of new faculty positions over the coming few years. We have few Pediatric subspecialty residents and fellows which gives our residents the opportunity to have primary responsibility for patient assessments and management and to work directly with faculty.

We have a number of strategies to provide support for residents to achieve their personal best. All incoming residents are assigned a senior resident and faculty mentor to assist with the transition from medical school to residency. In addition, each resident is assigned an academic coach who is dedicated to supporting the resident in reaching their academic goals.  Our research subcommittee aids the resident group in finding faculty mentors for resident research projects, as well as tracking and supporting trainees with both short and long-term research goals. In addition, our longitudinal social pediatrics curriculum includes connection with mentors to support a successful resident advocacy project.

The Co-Program Directors have an open-door policy to provide support to each resident. Program Leadership is formally scheduled to meet with each resident twice a year to review progress and set goals, in addition to twice-annual meetings with each PGY group, respectively, and the entire resident group.

We have extensive resident participation in our Residency Program Committee (RPC) and subcommittees (Curriculum, Competence, Research, Professionalism, EDI-D, and Wellness). A resident representative from each PGY group is a member of our RPC and residents are represented on three RPC subcommittees. We also have 2 elected Resident Leads, who are members of the RPC. We encourage residents and faculty to provide ongoing feedback and ideas to further enhance our program. One of the important mandates of the RPC is Continued Quality Improvement of the training program itself, and recent graduates are now surveyed anonymously on an annual basis.

Resident wellness is taken seriously by the training program. Our active Resident Wellness Subcommittee has both faculty and resident leaders. It is involved in the planning social events for residents and at time faculty and residents together, including "TGIFs" and residents' Fall and Spring retreats. However, it also shifts its focus to wellness on a more regular basis in the working environment, including a growing wellness library, call room “hotel kits”, regularly scheduled debriefing rounds, and community involvement/advocacy. The Program is also well supported by Schulich's Learner Experience Office (LEO) for both individualized resident and group learning activities.

RESOURCES

We have two general pediatrics Clinical Teaching Units (CTU) staffed by both academic general pediatricians and community pediatricians. The resident group consistently speaks to the value of the community perspective in the CTU environment to their learning. Each CTU team is comprised of one senior and one junior resident and three clerks.

The program also includes Community Pediatric rotations in smaller communities in the Southwest region of Ontario (i.e. London, St. Thomas and Stratford), some within commuting distance from London. Residents receive full funding for travel and accommodation are being provided by the Schulich's Distributed Education (DE) for Community Pediatric rotations in St. Thomas, Stratford and other DE network/sites.  For Community Pediatric rotations that are less than 4wks, which are not qualified for funding, the Department of Pediatrics' Rural and Remote Pediatrics Committee has extended support to medical students and pediatrics residents, which residents can apply for.

We have a teaching faculty of just over 100 clinicians, including general Pediatricians, Pediatric subspecialists and Pediatric general and specialist surgeons. All Pediatric subspecialties are available in our program for resident rotations.

We have an onsite simulation center, the Michael Gunning Simulation Centre, that is dedicated to pediatrics and maternal and child health. Our residents participate in many courses and learning activities that use this space, which includes but is not limited to our mandatory simulation curriculum. The program incorporates simulation in multiple areas of the training program, and is increasingly becoming a vital tool for both curriculum delivery and assessment.  We are fortunate to have a number of faculty with formal expertise and commitment to Simulation in Education. 

CTU-Windsor is a mandatory experience for PGY1 and PGY2 trainees, providing opportunities to attend an in-hospital consulting Pediatric clinic and provide consults to the emergency department in a community hospital setting.  Care of the well-newborn is also an integral part of this rotation.  The team consists of  one senior and one junior Pediatric resident, one Family Medicine resident and clerks.  The independence offered to residents in the Windsor setting is something frequently cited as a strength.  

PGY3 residents are also provided the opportunity to complete their PGY3 neonatal rotation in either Windsor or London.

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Program Curriculum

This residency program is for 4 years.

Program length of training does not exceed the Royal College or College of Family Physicians of Canada standard.

Curriculum

The core curriculum meets the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada standards for accreditation in pediatrics. In July 2021, the Competence By Design (CBD) curriculum has been officially launched. The 4 stages of CBD are mapped over 4years, after which residents can choose to apply to a subspecialty.

The Pediatric training program at Western is designed for trainees interested in pursuing careers in either community consulting pediatrics or a pediatric subspecialty. To facilitate the transition to residency, our program matches a senior resident and a faculty mentor to each incoming PGY-1 resident. In addition, we have a group of trained faculty coaches, with whom each of our PGY1 residents is paired with.  A comprehensive orientation seminar series is held during the first eight weeks of the PGY-1 year.

Residents are provided with ample opportunity for hands-on clinical experience and supervised decision-making. Objective assessment of performance is an integral part of our program which includes mapped Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) and final evaluations for each rotation, regular observed history and physical exams, and yearly OSCE examinations. 

Our training sites include hospitals, ambulatory Pediatric offices, community health care facilities in London and smaller regional centers in Southwestern Ontario. Under the Distributed Education (DE) network program, rotations in various specialties are available in the region. The community pediatric rotations during the PGY-1 and PGY-3 year are spent working in community pediatricians' practices in the region under the DE program, whereby accommodation and travel funds are made available by DE. 

 

PGY-1 Rotation (as of 2025-2026)

3 blocks - Clinical Teaching Units (CTU) - Children's Hospital, London, ON

1 block - Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) - Windsor Regional Hospital, Windsor, ON  

1 block - Community Pediatric - Distributed Education (DE) sites 

2 blocks - Neonatal Intensive Care - Children's Hospital, London, ON

1 block - Pediatric Emergency Medicine - Children's Hospital, London, ON

1 block - Pediatric Surgery - Children's Hospital, London, ON

2.5 blocks - Pediatric subspecialty rotations (Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Genetics, and Respirology) - Children's Hospital, London, ON

1.5 Blocks - Junior Night Float 

PGY-2 Rotation (as of 2025-2026)

1 block - Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) - Windsor Regional Hospital, Windsor, ON

1 block - Level 2 - Neonatal Intensive Care - Children's Hospital, London, ON

2 blocks - Pediatric Critical Care - Children's Hospital, London, ON

1 block - Child Psychiatry - London, ON

1 block - Research - London, ON

2 blocks - Pediatric subspecialty rotations, including Hematology/Oncology, Cardiology, and Neurology - Children's Hospital, London, ON

1 block - Pediatric subspecialty elective at Children's Hospital, London, ON

2 blocks - Pediatric subspecialty electives - can be outside of/or within London, ON 

2 blocks - Night Float

PGY-3 Rotation (as of 2025-2026)

3 blocks - Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) - Children's Hospital, London, ON

1 block - Neonatal Intensive Care - Children's Hospital, London, ON or Windsor Regional Hospital, Windsor, ON

1 block - Pediatric Critical Care - Children's Hospital, London, ON

1 block - Community Pediatrics - London or DE site

1 block – Developmental Pediatrics – Child and Parent Resource Institute and Thames Valley Children’s Centre, London, ON

1 block - Pediatric Emergency - Children's Hospital, London, ON

1 block - Pediatric subspecialty elective - London, ON

1 block - Pediatric subspecialty elective - can be outside or within London, ON

1 block - Research or Research/Enrichment (including longitudinal research floating halfdays)

2 blocks - Senior Call (split into 2wks across the academic year) - Children's Hospital, London, ON

Longitudinal curriculum

There are some objectives which the program also delivers in a longitudinal manner, with specific curriculum developed in research, social pediatrics, and patient safety. Many of these include minimum expectations of all residents, with the ability to become more involved with resident interest level.

PGY-4 Rotation  (as of 2025-2026)

The fourth year of training carries some individualization to meet the trainee's educational needs and career objectives, with additional rotations mapped according to the Transition to Practice EPAs. The following are expected components of the current PGY4 year, subject to review by Curriculum Subcommittee:

NICU and other acute care (ER, PCCU, Anaesthesia, PCCOT/Transport) = minimum 2 weeks NICU and 2 weeks of other acute care

Senior calls – minimum of 4 x 2-wk blocks, or as per determined by the PD

CTU-Admission/Junior Consultant – 4-wk block

Continuity Clinic – one halfday clinic per week (with a Community pediatrician) - to be assigned by the program

Community Pediatrics (non-tertiary care) - 4-wk block, could be at LHSC or outside, but with calls.  

Complex Care – minimum of 2 weeks, could be a combination of inpatient and outpatient.

Rural Pediatrics – minimum of 2 weeks

Adolescent/Mental Health – minimum 2-weeks, may be longitudinal

Ambulatory/Mixed clinics - 8 weeks 

Subspecialty elective - 10 weeks (in London) 

Elective blocks - 8 weeks

Seminars

During the first 8 weeks of the academic year, a mandatory daily Pediatric Orientation lecture series is scheduled for new PGY1 residents. During this period, residents are also required to complete the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) courses. In addition, the new residents are also required to complete Canadian London Advanced Pediatric Life Support Simulation Course (CLASSiC), and The Healer's Art session.  Additional seminars relevant to the broad CanMEDS roles are hosted by Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry PGME. 

The Senior Resident Summer Lecture Series is a series of lectures that take place during the months of July and August  for more senior learners/residents. The purpose of these lectures is to help facilitate residents' transition to the senior role, thus allowing for the review of important pediatric topics in a more in-depth manner.

The late PGY3/PGY4 residents also have a separate teaching sessions, which geared towards transition to practice.

The core curriculum teaching sessions for all residents are held from September to June.  Protected teaching time is provided for residents to attend the mandatory noon hour Academic Rounds and a weekly Academic Half Day. Additional teaching rounds are scheduled for each clinical rotation and Journal Clubs maybe held outside the hospital. Residents have protected time to attend at least two off-site resident retreats that are organized each year.

Research

The research component of our program was developed to ensure successful completion of a scholarly project by residents over the three core years of Pediatric residency. A research mentorship program is in place for incoming PGY-1s. Residents have access to facilities, funds and faculty supervisors with expertise in basic, clinical and translational research, medical education and health administration. Research methodology, an annual Research Proposal Day and an annual Pediatric Research Day are incorporated in our core curriculum. It is an expectation that at least one publication or abstract presentation will be completed during residency.  

Given the longitudinal nature of research activities, research floating half-days are available to PGY2 and PGY3 residents who require extra time outside of their Research block to achieve a certain milestone. There is an approval process in place to secure a floating half-day.

Start Date

Residency Training Program Start Date: All programs at Western commence on July 1, 2026, with a City-Wide Orientation Day at Western University (date TBD). The Pediatrics PGY1 Bootcamp with Meet and Greet (date TBD) usually takes place within the first week of July, at Children's Hospital, in London, Ontario.

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Training Sites

Resources

Children's  Hospital/LHSC (CH)- 58 pediatric beds and a 51- bed tertiary-level Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as well as a 14- bed pediatric critical care unit and pediatric emergency department with  over 35,000 visits  per year. CH serves as the regional pediatric trauma centre and as the only tertiary pediatric referral centre for a population in excess of 1.5 million. 

Child and Parent Resource Institute (CPRI) - 78 bed hospital for children with psychiatric, behavioral and neurological problems with  a large ambulatory service. 

Child Health Research Institute (CHRI) - research facility offering opportunities in a wide range of research activities located at the CHWO site.

TVCC - The Thames Valley Children's Centre is an outpatient rehabilitation centre offering a wide range of programs and services to children and youth with physical, communication and developmental needs.

The Schulich Distributed Education (DE) network provides students and residents with opportunities to experience learning, living, and working in Southwestern Ontario. DE is partnered with more than 45 Communities who are involved in medical training activities. 

The Michael Gunning Simulation Centre is our onsite simulation center that is dedicated to pediatrics and maternal and child health simulations. Our residents participate in many courses and learning activities that use this space, which include but are not limited to our mandatory simulation curriculum. The program incorporates simulation in multiple areas of the training program, and is increasingly becoming a vital tool for both curriculum delivery and assessment.  We are fortunate to have a number of faculty with formal expertise and commitment to Simulation in Education. 

Windsor Regional Hospital - CTU in Windsor is a mandatory experience for PGY1 and PGY2 trainees, providing opportunities to attend an in-hospital consulting Pediatric clinic and provide consults to the emergency department in a community hospital setting.  Care of the well-newborn is also an integral part of this rotation.  The team consists of  one senior and one junior Pediatric resident, one Family Medicine resident and clerks.  The independence offered to residents in the Windsor setting is something frequently cited as a strength.  In addition, PGY3 residents are also provided the opportunity to complete their PGY3 neonatal rotation in either Windsor or London.

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Additional Information

Pre-residency orientation programs
All IMG candidates accepted to all residency programs will be required to complete either the Pre-Residency Program (PRP) for Family Medicine or the Orientation to Training and Practice in Canada (OTPC) program for Specialty training, administered by the Centre for Evaluation of Health Professionals Educated Abroad (CEHPEA) prior to entering into a residency program. Matched IMGs will be expected to attend these programs in Toronto, several weeks in advance of the start of their residency program. In some cases, this may result in a delay of the start date of the residency.

Assessment verification period
All IMG candidates accepted to residency training programs will be required to undergo an Assessment Verification Period (AVP). This assessment period is normally 12 weeks in length and is required by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) to obtain an educational license to enter a residency program.

IMGs that have failed an AVP and are reapplying through CaRMS are ineligible to apply for training in the same specialty in Ontario, but may apply to a different specialty in the first and/or second iteration. IMGs who have withdrawn from a program prior to completion of an AVP must declare so upon application.

Reference:  http://www.carms.ca/en/residency/r-1/eligibility-criteria/provincial-criteria/ontario/

A citywide Orientation Day takes place later in June or early July, and will be scheduled by Postgraduate Medical Education office for all PGY1 residents.

All information contained is subject to change until such time as the rank order lists are filed. Please ensure you review information on a regular basis.

 

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FAQ

Files not meeting all the eligibility criteria will not be reviewed by the Selection Committee.