Program Contacts

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Important Information

All candidates must meet the CaRMS - Provincial Eligibility: Alberta

Royal College-Accredited Program (2022)

Competency by Design curriculum launched in July 2025. 

Training is Calgary-based except for a mandatory 4-week rotation at the Public Health Laboratory in Edmonton, AB, and for out-of-province electives chosen by the trainee.  

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General Instructions

Program application language: English

Applicants who completed their medical education in in Quebec or at the University of Ottawa (French Stream) are required to provide proof of English Language Proficiency as determined by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA). Applicants should not contact the CPSA directly about their eligibility for licensure. Exams must be completed within 24 months of the residency start date.

 

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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

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Interviews

Selection Criteria

Applicants are ranked by the Medical Microbiology Residency Program Committee, taking into account the assessments from faculty involved in file reviews and interviews. Selection criteria are based upon Program Goals.

Program goals

The vision of the University of Calgary Medical Microbiology Residency Program is to train the highest calibre of medical microbiologists to fill clinical roles in community, acute care and public health laboratories, academic settings as well as leadership roles in laboratory medicine.

We strive to provide a broad training experience in all these areas while allowing for flexibility to meet the residents’ individual interests and needs.

Selection process goals

A successful applicant for our program demonstrates the following skills and attributes:

• interest in and committment to Medical Microbiology
• academic achievement
• self-motivation
• leadership skills
• exceptional communication skills
• exceptional collaborator/team work skills
• professionalism
• curiosity and inquiry

The above skills and attributes are essential for a trainee to be successful in our residency training and their future careers.

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 : We do not specifically look at applicant social media use, however, we are very sensitive to the principles of digital professionalism, and applicants must understand that information they place into the public domain matters.

If unsolicited comments (through any media) are received concerning an applicant, the information would be noted by the Program only if it was egregious, investigated and confirmed to be accurate. Otherwise, it would be rejected as hearsay. More often than not, in our experience the unsolicited information is in praise of the applicant.

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

Particular strengths of our program:

Integrated provincial laboratory system - provides residents access to specimens of unparalleled volume and complexity within a single provincial laboratory organization (Alberta Precision Laboratories), powered by a single provincial clinical and laboratory information system (EPIC Connect Care). 

Exposure to laboratories of many sizes and complexities - while primarily training at the Calgary hub laboratory - a recently renovated and highly automated laboratory responsible for primary, acute and continuing care microbiology testing - residents also participate in the remote oversight of 5 community-based laboratories serving northern (Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray), central (Red Deer), and southern (Lethbridge and Medicine Hat) acute care hospitals, and train at both the Calgary and the Edmonton public health laboratories.  

Laboratory management - Calgary-based oversight of a laboratory hub, 5 regional acute care hospital laboratories and a public health laboratory creates various opportunities for direct resident participation in the medico-scientific and quality leadership of laboratories.  Test evaluation and implementation, procedure standardization, laboratory accreditation activities are some examples of recurring resident contributions.  A summer didactic program focused on management of microbiology laboratories plus a longitudinal didactic program focused on general laboratory management topics complement the hands-on experiences available to residents.

Teaching faculty - including Medical Microbiologists, Infectious Diseases/Medical Microbiologists and Clinical PhD Microbiologists, our team provides mentorship preparing residents for a wide range of clinical and academic positions.  Our faculty have excelled in translational research in a variety of areas including antimicrobial resistance, laboratory surveillance of infectious diseases, development of molecular diagnostics, microbial genomics, infection prevention and control, global health and more.  

Supportive and adaptive learning environment - since its inception in 2015, our program continues to grow and evolve to provide the best learning opportunities for our residents. We offer flexibility in Medical Microbiology training to meet residents' every learning and future career needs through a variety of selective and elective blocks.  We value all input for the continual quality improvement of our residency program. 

Strong ties to the Infectious Disease Programs - our program benefits tremendously from close cooperation with the Adult and Pediatric Infectious Disease fellowships and the Antimicrobial Stewardship Area of Focused Competence training program at the University of Calgary. This cooperation includes rotations, CME, academic half-day sessions and other teaching opportunities to meet all of our shared objectives and requirements for training.

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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.

Our Program Curriculum is aligned with the Royal College Competencies and Training Experiences for Medical Microbiology and is organized in the following stages of training:

Transition to Discipline 

Residents are onboarded and oriented to the policies, protocols, resources, and facilities of the residency program, the medical microbiology laboratory, and the health system. Residents participate in the activities of the laboratory with a focus on the pre-analytic phase of the testing cycle, as well as in bacteriology. Clinical exposure starts, with skills on patient clinical assessment first tested at this stage.

Foundations of Discipline 

Residents gain clinical experience in patient assessment and management through rotations in Family Medicine, Emergency, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and General Surgery, all while accumulating firsthand experience in the indication, ordering, collection and interpretation of microbiology diagnostic investigations applied to a broad range of common presentations and illnesses.  Building the foundation of the management of pre-analytic, analytic and post-analytic phases of bacteriology, virology and serological testing become the focus of the laboratory-based rotations at the Calgary hub and public health laboratories.  Bedside laboratory knowledge clinical application and integration in Infectious Diseases rotations including inpatient consultation and outpatient IV clinic starts at this stage and extends into Core of Discipline.

Core of Discipline 

Laboratory training expands to include mycology, parasitology, molecular diagnostics, mycobacteriology and laboratory management.  Residents are now ready to start offering on-call coverage to the Calgary hub and public health laboratories, with responsibilities gradually added as key competencies are entrusted.  Residents participate in the oversight and on-call coverage of regional community laboratories and rotate through the biocontainment level 3 laboratory in Edmonton.  Rotations include Infectious Diseases specialized outpatient clinics, and pediatric care.  Skills in Infection Prevention and Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship are gained in the course of this stage.

Elective rotations become available from this stage to fulfill training requirements and foster interest in research and continuous quality improvement, while also allowing residents to pursue additional training experiences in their areas and settings of choice, connect and network with potential future colleagues and employers.  The versatility afforded by these rotations allows for a customized training program, developed in collaboration with the program director.

Transition to Practice

The focus of this stage is the consolidation of skills required for medical microbiology practice.  Residents become Junior Attendings, practicing clinical direction and management of the laboratory and demonstrating leadership skills in all domains of practice, including running a clinical Infectious Disease service, leading the day-to-day activities of the laboratory, and contributing their expertise to internal committees.  The Royal College clinical and laboratory written and applied examinations are completed during this stage.

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Training Sites

All mandatory laboratory training is completed within Alberta Precision Laboratories facilities.

Primary laboratory training site:

• Hub laboratory (Calgary) - bacteriology, mycology, parasitology, molecular diagnostics and laboratory management training.  High volume testing of primary, acute and continuing care specimens.  Recently renovated, highly automated facility combining conventional and emerging microbiology diagnostics.  

Public health laboratory training sites:

• Public health laboratory (Calgary) - virology, serology, molecular diagnostics, reference testing training.  
• Public health laboratory (Edmonton) - mycobacteriology, molecular surveillance, reference testing and biosecurity containment level 3 training.  One-time 4-week mandatory rotation with flexible timing to best accommodate the resident's needs.

Remote laboratory training sites:

• Community-based laboratory sites (Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat) - remote consultation to local microbiology laboratory operations staff and healthcare providers, and active participation in longitudinal site medico-scientific and quality oversight alongside Calgary faculty.  Residents may also visit Red Deer, Lethbridge and/or Medicine Hat laboratory sites during their training.

Clinical training sites:

• Acute care hospitals (Calgary) - inpatient consultation, outpatient IV therapy, infection prevention and control, antimicrobial stewardship.
• Foothills Medical Centre
• Peter Lougheed Centre
• Rockyview General Hospital
• South Health Campus
• Alberta Children's Hospital

• Outpatient clinics (Calgary) - family medicine, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, tuberculosis/mycobacterial diseases, viral hepatitis, tropical medicine.

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FAQ

How many residents are in your program?
We currently have five residents in the program, with 3 graduating in 2026.  

How many microbiologists are there in your teams?
Our Calgary teams include 14 Medical Microbiologists (with some working part time in Infectious Diseases and/or in academic or leadership positions), plus 2 Clinical PhD Microbiologists.

How is the training organized?
Refer to the Program Curriculum section.

What are the call requirements like?
During Transition to Discipline and Foundations of Discipline, in-house call workload is variable but within the limits imposed by the terms of the Professional Association of Resident Physicians of Alberta collective agreement.  From the Core of Discipline stage onwards, most rotations are home call. On Medical Microbiology rotations, overnight home call is implemented gradually. Once entrusted with overnight call responsibilities, residents are expected to be on-call for up to 7 days in each four-week block of mandatory laboratory rotations.

Is there funding for conferences and other academic experiences?
Yes. Funding is available for educational events such as conferences. Residents are encouraged to present posters or oral presentations but are permitted and funded to attend conferences even when not presenting.

What are the elective opportunities?
Twelve elective rotations are available during the Core of Discipline and Transition to Practice stages of training.  Time may be spent in Alberta, in other provinces or even internationally.  Forward planning is essential for home program and receiving program/laboratory/institution requirements to be met.  Resident training goals are periodically reviewed in 1:1 meetings with the Program Director, who collaborates with the resident in the planning of all electives.