Program Contacts

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Important Information

 

 

 

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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

All applicant files submitted before the deadline will be reviewed by the selection committee. Each file is evaluated for characteristics likely to contribute to success as a pediatric resident in our program and eventually as a pediatrician, and for potential to meet the needs of the diverse pediatric population of BC. 

After file review, selected applicants will be offered a virtual interview.  Due to the large number of applications received, not all those meeting minimal requirements will be offered an interview. 

The final ranking process is determined by a combination of file review and interview scores.

Selection Criteria

As a new, community based site of the UBC pediatric residency program launched in July 2023, the Fraser site provides residents with significant opportunities for independence. Trainees who are motivated, independent, and mature in their learning style, and who are enthusiastic about helping to develop a new educational initiative are expected to thrive here.  The nature of the program will require residents to be flexible in having the majority of their rotations in the Fraser region, but with several rotations each year taking place in Vancouver or other UBC sites.

Applications should demonstate evidence of:

• An interest in pediatrics and understanding of the field (this may include elective experience, research or work experience involving children and youth)

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

• Compassion, strong work ethic and professionalism.

• An inquisitive mind (ability to reason, critical thinking skills, curiosity).

• Strong clinical skills and reasoning 

• A willingness to accept feedback and commitment to self-improvement.

 

We value and celebrate diversity in our residents, program and community.

Program goals

The mission of the UBC pediatric residency training program is to provide quality postgraduate training experiences to prepare doctors to be highly competent pediatric specialists and sub-specialists, in order  to meet the diverse needs of patients and communities in British Columbia.  

Our goal is to equip residents to be ready for independent practice, capable of assuming a consultant’s role, in pediatric careers that include excellence in clinical care, medical education, clinical research, and child health advocacy, fulfilling all the objectives of specialty training in pediatrics of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

At UBC, we are committed to training physicians who will ultimately be serving our population.

Residents in our program are expected to demonstrate clinical and academic excellence, exceptional interpersonal and teamwork skills, collegiality with peers, scholarly perspective, and a sense of responsibility and dedication to the profession. 

At UBC, we rely on the entire province for training.We celebrate the learning opportunities available to learners through our distributed partnerships.  Therefore, the ability to complete rotations 'away' from your home base is expected.

Selection process goals

Identify applicants strongly interested in Pediatrics, and those who will develop into exceptional pediatricians

Identify applicants who have demonstrated ability to collaborate with patients, colleagues, and healthcare team members alike

Identify applicants who have demonstrated ability and enthusiasm to learn and are able to adapt to the various demands of residency training.

Identify applicants who are independent, flexible and mature learners who are excited to contribute to the ongoing development of a new community-based training site.

Identify applicants who have a sincere interest to serve the communities of BC, with particular note of those interested in practicing in underserved communities.

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

Fraser Site of the UBC Pediatric Residency Program 

A unique aspect of the UBC Pediatrics Residency Program is that it has three base sites - Vancouver, and Victoria on Vancouver Island, and this Fraser site, launched in July 2023.    Entering its fourth year, the Fraser site of the program is based in Surrey, the second largest city in the Metro Vancouver area, with training experiences in several other hospitals and practices in the Fraser region.  Each site has their own CaRMS PGY-1 matched spots.

Fraser Health is the second largest health authority in Canada and home to over 40% of British Columbia’s children. The region’s boundaries extend from the seaside communities of Tsawwassen and White Rock south of the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby north of the Fraser River, and up the green fields of the Fraser Valley east to the municipality of Hope at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon. The United States border runs the length of the FHA region to the south. There are three regional pediatric units and five community hospitals with pediatric care.  With the high volume of pediatric and neonatal activity, there will be ample opportunities for personal and hands-on clinical experience, supported by close, supportive teaching from dedicated faculty.

The Fraser and Vancouver island sites of the UBC Pediatrics Residency Program are fully integrated with the  the Vancouver site of the program. Residents from both of these sites will spend 6-16 weeks per year at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver doing rotations that are by necessity in a children’s hospital. They join the BCCH based residents in person several times a year for educational events, including orientation and boot camp, fall retreat (at Whistler), Celebrate Research Day (April), a spring retreat, careers evening and an awards banquet in Vancouver. Residents will also attend OSCE examinations in Vancouver (1 in the PGY1 - 3 years, 2-3 in the PGY 4 year. ) Mandated events include supported travel and accommodation.  Weekly academic half-days and Grand Rounds are video-conferenced to our distributed sites throughout the province.   

The Fraser site will provide candidates with significant opportunities for independence. The nature of the program will require residents to be flexible.  Trainees who are motivated, independent, and mature in their learning style and who are enthusiastic about helping to continue to develop this new educational initiative are expected to thrive here.

Launched in 2023, we currently have 6 residents at the Fraser Site.

At present we are unable to accept IMG applications for the Fraser Site.

 

 

UBC Pediatric Residency Program

The UBC general pediatric residency training program strives to provide a broad inpatient, ambulatory and community educational base to equip general pediatricians with the skills necessary for independent practice and/or to successfully transition to subspecialty training. Training within the tertiary care setting helps graduates develop the confidence and skills necessary to treat children with medical and psychosocial complexity and provide exposure to all pediatric subspecialties. This is complemented by mandatory time spent each year in community practices and hospitals around the province.  Our pediatric residency training program is committed to providing an excellent educational experience within the guidelines of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Residents attend mandated academic activities, including academic half-days and Grand Rounds on a weekly basis. These are video-conferenced to our distributed sites throughout the province. There are two mandatory resident retreats and a Careers Night annually, attended by residents from both sites.

Residents also practice resuscitation scenarios in the high-fidelity simulator program, both on acute care rotations (PICU and emergency medicine) and in their longitudinal simulation curriculum in the academic half-day. Regular mock codes take place for residents on the clinical teaching unit (CTU).

All residents are expected to work on clinical, basic science, quality improvement or medical education research and to present their work at least once, either at the annual research day or at a conference. First year residents take part in a 24-hour research curriculum during the academic half-day. The resident Journal Club is scheduled bimonthly and introduces residents to key clinical research methodologies and critical appraisal of the literature.

The UBC Department of Pediatrics and the pediatrics residency program have a commitment to social justice as a lens for all pediatric care, and to addressing health inequities affecting children and youth. In addition to a mandatory social pediatrics rotation, residents have opportunities to engage in resident-driven local health advocacy projects, outreach programs in BC, as well as global child health initiatives, including local social pediatrics electives and electives overseas. 

Residents can participate in the visiting clinic experiences to Haida Gwaii and Smithers/Hazelton, as well as the Brighter Smiles program that serves several First Nations communities. Presently, partnerships exist with hospitals in South Africa and Australia allowing senior residents the opportunity to participate in ethical extended (three month) global health electives.

For more information on our general program, please see UBC - Vancouver CMG program description.

 

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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.

The curriculum has been revised in accordance with the Royal College's Competence By Design required and recommended training experiences, and  standards for accreditation for pediatrics as of July 2021.  The 4 stages of CBD are mapped over 4 years, after which residents can choose to apply to a subspecialty. The first three stages provide exposure to acute care and ambulatory pediatrics as well as the subspecialties, with a graded responsibility from junior to senior residency.  Residents participate in the resident continuity clinic during Core and Transition to Practice stages.

Unique to the Fraser and Victoria sites is the longitudinal exposure to subspecialty and general pediatrics outpatient clinic opportunities.  These mixed blocks are scheduled throughout the four years of training and allow trainees to revisit outpatient learning opportunities over time.  For example, instead of completing a single four week rotation in cardiology, Fraser site trainees will complete multiple individual days of cardiology over the course of their training, scheduled during their longitudinal blocks.  The majority of subspecialty exposure will be achieved through outpatient or community experiences in the Fraser Health Region.

Curriculum Fraser Site

Transition to Discipline:

• Orientation block (at BC Children’s Hospital)
• Community Pediatrics Fraser region
• ER/Newborn (at Surrey Memorial Hospital)

Foundations (junior resident):

• CTU (SMH and BCCH), night float, community pediatrics
• Anaesthesia, emergency medicine SMH
• Level II and community level III NICU (RCH and SMH)
• Subspecialties (combination of longitudinal clinic exposure in Fraser or blocks at BCCH)

Core:

   Core 1 (transition towards senior resident):

• CTU Jr , Jr consults SMH, community pediatrics
• Subspecialties (combination of longitudinal clinic exposure in Fraser or blocks at BCCH)
• Level III NICU SMH
• Pediatric intensive care BCCH
• social pediatrics
• Elective
• research 2 weeks

• CTU Sr, night float, Sr consults SMH
• Complex care
• Subspecialties: dermatology, adolescent medicine, neurology, psychiatry, surgery
• Developmental pediatrics
• Level III-IV NICU BCWH
• Emergency medicine BCCH
• PICU Sr BCCH​
• Selective; Elective x 3

Transition to Practice:

• Junior consultant at hospital in Fraser region
• CTU Sr (Surrey Memorial Hospital)
• Emergency medicine (Surrey Memorial Hospital or BCCH)
• community ambulatory pediatrics
• Community level III NICU (RCH or SMH)
• Elective x 2

Details regarding housing and accommodation for mandated  rural rotations are outlined in the PGME guidelines.

Formal Academic Teaching

Residents participate in mandated academic activities, including the following:

• Academic Half Day: 3 1/2 hours per week (12:30­-4:00 pm Tuesdays).  This is protected academic time.
• Simulation Program:  eight 3-hour sessions during academic half days throughout the year.  This is protected academic time.
• Grand Rounds: 1 hour per week (1200 - 1300 Fridays)
• Rotation specific rounds and seminars: (1­-5 hours per week)
• Journal Club: bi-monthly meetings, 2 hours per meeting, usually off campus
• Twice yearly resident retreats

 

Mandatory Courses

The Program schedules NRP, PALS and Peds BASIC courses in the first and second years of resident training. Residents are also required to complete ACLS, Residents as Teachers, and online courses including the Indigenous Cultural Competency course and Immunization Pearls.  

 

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Training Sites

Training sites will include:

Surrey Memorial Hospital

Royal Columbian Hospital

Langley Memorial Hospital

Abbotsford Regional Hospital

Chilliwack General Hospital

BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver

BC Women’s Hospital, Vancouver

Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children, Vancouver

Distributed community pediatrics sites

Community pediatric ambulatory practices

  

The Hospitals

 Surrey Memorial Hospital is the largest of three regional hospitals in Fraser Health’s integrated network of care, providing a range of services, including 24/7 emergency services. It is the designated Regional Pediatric Centre in the Fraser Health region. Surrey Memorial Hospital is the second largest hospital in the province with the province's busiest Emergency Department. The Emergency Department also includes a separate pediatric emergency department for children, one of only two in B.C. The Children’s Health Centre at Surrey Memorial Hospital is the busiest facility of its kind for children in the entire Fraser Health region.  A range of subspecialty services provide clinics including cardiology, asthma, nephrology, and diabetes. Every year the hospital treats more than 50,000 children for everything from wounds to cancer. The Neonatal Intensive care unit (NICU) has a 32-bed capacity, caring for the most fragile of newborns in this maternity centre of 4500 deliveries per year.  

 

The Royal Columbia Hospital (RCH) is the oldest hospital in BC and is located in New Westminster.  It provides specialized pediatric care in a secure unit of 12 inpatient rooms for infants, children, and youth up to the age of 17 years. Additionally, there is an ambulatory, rapid-access pediatric service, and several subspecialty clinics. There is on-site physician coverage 24 hours a day.  The RCH is also the regional trauma, neurosurgery, and cardiac center and thus cares for high-risk maternity patients as well.  The NICU has 24 beds for the sickest of newborns in this center of 3000 deliveries a year.  In 2025, the new Acute Care tower will expand the emergency (including a separate pediatric area), pediatric unit, and NICU footprint to provide the highest level of care to babies, children, and youth.  

 

British Columbia Children's Hospital (BCCH) is the only tertiary care pediatric hospital in BC. The hospital also provides primary and secondary pediatric care to the pediatric population in and around Vancouver.  Virtually all medical and surgical sub-specialties are represented at this centre. There is a total of 154 pediatric beds with approximately 7100 admissions per year. The 18 bed Pediatric ICU has approximately 800 admissions per year. We have an active pediatric cardio-thoracic surgery service. British Columbia Children's Hospital has a Pediatric Emergency Department with approximately 50,000 visits per year. The Ambulatory Care Building hosts over 40 clinics,  seeing over 160,000 visits per year. There are active medical, surgical and psychiatric daycare programs.  http://www.bcchildrens.ca/

 British Columbia Women's Hospital offers level 2 and 3 neonatal experience with 60 neonatal beds and over 1100 admission to NICU each year, and the Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children provides child development and rehabilitation services, with 12 inpatient beds, and 12,000 ambulatory visits annually.

 

The University 

 The Department of Pediatrics, part of the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine, has played a vital role in developing undergraduate and postgraduate clinical training programs since 1952. The strength of the Department lies in three areas: teaching, research, and exemplary patient care. We are fully accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. In addition, most subspecialties offer Royal College accredited training programs for pediatric graduates, with approximately 80 subspecialty residents and fellows per year.  https://pediatrics.med.ubc.ca/

 The UBC Fraser Medical Program is a new distributed training site of the UBC Faculty of Medicine. Medical students will complete most of their clinical experiences of the four-year training program in the Fraser region.   

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Additional Information

The UBC Pediatric residency program provides each resident with an education stipend to attend and/or present at conferences, purchase textbooks and offset other educational expenses during their training.

Two resident retreats are conducted each year.

Both individual and group mentorship programs exist. The resident group provides peer mentorship for incoming R1s, assisting them to “learn the ropes” and support the transition into a new and challenging residency program.

In the summer, we welcome our new trainees with a Garden Party. Our Annual Awards Banquet in June is a time to honour and celebrate the accomplishments of our residents, fellows and faculty members.

 

A little bit about the Fraser region...

Within Metro Vancouver, Surrey is the largest city in land area, and second most populous city, and lies between the Fraser River and the U.S. border. The City of Surrey resides on the traditional territories of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt and Tsawwassen First Nations. Surrey is one of the fastest growing, culturally diverse cities in Canada.  43% of the province’s children live in the Fraser health authority, and one in 3 residents of Surrey is under 19.  Metro Vancouver's metropolitan rail system, SkyTrain, provides Surrey with an Expo Line service to Downtown Vancouver.  https://www.surrey.ca/about-surrey

The Fraser Health region’s boundaries extend from the seaside communities of Tsawwassen and White Rock south of the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby north of the Fraser River, and up the green fields of the Fraser Valley east to the municipality of Hope at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon. The United States border runs the length of the FHA region to the south. 

A little bit about Vancouver ...

The City of Vancouver acknowledges is situated on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Vancouver is one of North America's most beautiful cities, hosting a natural harbor, mountains, forests, and beaches. The city has a mild maritime climate, yet it is in close proximity to snow-capped mountains and outdoor winter activities while the Pacific Ocean is most suited for sailing, sea- kayaking, swimming, diving and windsurfing.  Vancouverites enjoy a vibrant, multicultural city with a plethora of international restaurants.

Public transit is available throughout the lower mainland by bus, sea bus, and sky train. The Canada Line connects Richmond to downtown Vancouver and runs along the Cambie Street Corridor.  From the stop at Cambie Street and 25th Avenue (King Edward) it is a 10 minute walk to BC Children's Hospital. Travelers can take bikes on public transit.

Bicycling is a key year-round form of transport, with over 1,400 km of bike routes (400 km on shared roadways with cars) throughout the Vancouver area.  The Central Valley Greenway, a 24 km pathway for cycling, jogging, walking, skateboarding, blading and for those with wheelchairs, is a major transportation and recreation route that links to multiple destinations across the city.