Program Contacts

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General Instructions

Program application language: Either English or French

Before applying for this program, all candidates are asked to read the eligibility criteria for postgraduate medical training programs in R1 specialties offered all four Quebec faculties of medicine by clicking on this link: https://www.carms.ca/match/r-1-main-residency-match/eligibility-criteria/quebec/.   

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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

Your application file will be read in its entirety by at least two file reviewers to determine offers for interviews.

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Interviews

Selection Criteria

Mandatory

• Academic excellence
• 3 letters of reference
• Less than 4 years from medical training/clinical practice
• A one-page personal letter addressing the following 4 issues:
  
  • Describe a personal trait that would make you an excellent anesthesiologist and why
  • Describe the most challenging aspect you would have as a McGill Anesthesia resident
  • Describe a situation when you failed, or fell short of your goals
  • Describe what experience/achievement you are most proud of in your life so far
• Curriculum vitae of 4 pages maximum. Please focus on:
  
  • educational experiences, extracurricular experiences and personal interests in the past 6 years
• CASPer exam

Competitive candidates will be invited to an interview. 

Final ranking depends on the file review and interview performance.

Program goals

The McGill Residency Program in Anesthesiology aims to provide trainees with excellent clinical training in our University Centre Hospitals that provide them with the diversity of clinical experiences of the large and multicultural metropolitan centre that Montreal offers, with staff clinicians trained from all over the world, with world-renowned researchers, a McGill Simulation Centre with the latest technologies and excellent Medical Education Department of McGill. The Program of course prepares each trainee for the Royal College examinations, but beyond that, provides each trainee with the required strong base for an excellent anesthesiology career.

Our program has an interesting educational curriculum that integrates simulation, regional and POCUS workshops and practice oral examinations throughout the five year training to solidify knowledge acquired during academic teaching sessions and operating room teachings.

Selection process goals

We are looking for well-rounded individuals who will contribute not only to our Residency Program, but also to our Anesthesiology community.

The ideal candidate has a competitive academic file with a curriculum vitae that highlights a variety of activities and work experience that demonstrate good communication and collaboration skills, leadership qualities, and a high level of professionalism. His or her dossier also shows a motivation to learn, an interest in the discipline of Anesthesia and an interest in the Residency Program at McGill.

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

The McGill Residency Program in Anesthesiology offers excellent clinical and research training in a large multicultural metropolitan centre yet is small enough that the department and residency program can offer a very flexible and tailored approach to your learning. We are pleased to announce that we were granted FULL Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons certification until 2026.

We offer a Junior Residency Orientation Program, or JROP, during the first 10 weeks of the PGY1 and PGY2 years, offering an intensive course in the safe learning environment offered by the McGill Simulation Centre.

PGY1 residents are mentored by a senior resident, with whom they do their first calls that first month. Senior residents are involved in all aspects of the teaching in the JROP program including the lectures, the hands-on workshops and simulation scenarios. This is a unique experience in medical education offered to all our trainees. Our JROP program has been in existence for sixteen years.

Longitudinal POCUS training has been integrated into the curriculum, including several workshop sessions every year.

Trouble Rounds have been integrated into the weekly academic seminar program, with the goal of enhancing residents' ability to verbalize anesthetic considerations, the anesthetic plan, and to refine their decision-making process.  

Our residents also have the opportunity to participate in a Transfusion Bootcamp.

 

 

 

 

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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.

 

General Description of the Program

The McGill program is an accredited program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPS) and the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ).

RCPSC Guidelines dictate the basic structure of the program, but flexibility has been maintained to allow interested residents to pursue research or other academic areas in keeping with their own learning and career goals. Strengths of the McGill Program include a large and varied patient case load and a solid curriculum which includes specialty and inter-specialty simulation, and involvement in education of the junior residents and medical students.  The McGill program also provides residents with the opportunity to experience life in the unique cosmopolitan culture of Montreal.

 This is a 5-year residency program as per the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada standard.

As with all anesthesia programs in Canada, the McGill Residency Program in Anesthesia implemented our Competence by Design Curriculum starting in July 2017.

There are 4 stages of training:

The Transition to Discipline stage is a 10-week orientation program which serves to introduce the medical student graduate to the basics of anesthesia. This is accomplished by intensive sessions with senior residents and staff in the simulation centre through 11 modules, known as our junior orientation program. These modules focus on the anesthesia machine, airway management, fluids and resuscitation, pharmacology, neuraxial anesthesia and obstetrical anesthesia, post-operative care unit and pain management, and pre-operative evaluation. These include sessions that review these concepts in follow-up and synthesis modules. These modules include didactic teaching, interactions with standardized patients, task trainers and high-fidelity simulation.

This junior orientation program, which has been an integral part of the McGill Residency Program in Anesthesia since 2009, is complemented by clinical exposure to anesthesia at one of the 4 main adult teaching sites.

The Foundations stage of approximately 2 years duration gives the resident an opportunity to learn and solidify their knowledge and clinical expertise in general anesthesia, acute pain, and general internal medicine, such as emergency, critical care, ENT, and obstetrics.  Included in the Foundations stage is an introduction to bedside ultrasound and to clinical epidemiology and statistics which serves to introduce the resident to basic concepts in research to facilitate the development of the residents' critical appraisal skills. They are also mentored by staff and encouraged to participate in the development of a research project which can be presented at our Annual Anesthesia Research Day (Bromage Day).

The Core stage of approximately 2 years duration gives the resident an opportunity to explore, learn and solidify their knowledge in the major subspecialty areas in the discipline of Anesthesia, including pediatrics, neuro, obstetrics, cardiovascular, vascular, regional, thoracics, POCUS, and chronic pain. Rotations are also completed in internal medicine domains, particularly cardiac and respirology, and intensive care in adults, and cardiac (CCU).  Exposure to pediatric and neonatal ICU is possible if desired.

At either Foundations or Core stages, the residents are given the opportunity to experience clinical work in a more community environment, traditionally in the beautiful setting of Gatineau-Hull or Valleyfield for example.

The Transition to Practice Stage is designed to give the resident an opportunity to gain independence in their practice, to focus on their clinical or research interests in view of their personal goals and objectives.

Throughout the residency program, it is possible to have at least 3 periods of protected research time and it is also possible to organize rotations at hospitals interested in hiring after the residency.

 

Academic Program

Resident Seminar Program

This program covers the basic areas of anesthesia knowledge. Seminars are held weekly from September to June, and residents are freed from clinical duties to attend. The teaching format varies, with a combination of Trouble Rounds, case-based seminars, resident presentations, and lectures. Visiting professors at McGill are asked to conduct one of these seminars during their visit.

McGill Medical Simulation Centre (Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning)

The McGill Simulation Centre plays an integral role in the McGill Residency Program. As stated above, the McGill Residency program benefits from a junior orientation program during the summer months for the PGY1 and PGY2 residents. This program runs at the McGill Medical Simulation Centre over 11 intensive learning modules. The teaching done during these modules is done by the senior residents under the mentorship of McGill Anesthesia staff. This program helps to consolidate not only knowledge and learning, but also friendships and team spirit that are maintained through the residency program. It includes a 'buddy program' that matches the senior resident with the PGY1 resident in their first days in the operating room.

Senior residents participate as well in the Canadian National Anesthesia Simulation Curriculum and in inter-specialty simulation sessions with emergency, obstetrics and critical care trainees. 

All McGill anesthesia residents have simulation sessions that complement the seminar program to help consolidate learning points in a high-fidelity simulation setting. This occurs at the end of each teaching block. These half-day simulation sessions are often combined with hands-on POCUS training sessions.  Moreover, all residents also provide teaching sessions to medical students at the simulation centre.

Hospital-based Rounds and Teaching Sessions

From September to June, each hospital has its own departmental rounds and resident teaching sessions. Residents are often asked to prepare literature reviews or case discussions for these rounds as a requirement for completing the hospital rotation.

Journal Club

Journal Club is held four to five times during the academic year. Recent publications are presented by residents, with faculty guidance. The format is designed to develop critical appraisal skills.

Anesthesia Research Day

The annual Anesthesia Research Day provides a forum for residents, fellows and postgraduate students associated with the Department of Anesthesia to present their work. All residents are expected to present once during their residency at this event. Presentations can involve research work, quality improvement projects, case reports, or educational projects.

Resident Education Day and Retreat

Every year invited speakers offer workshops to residents on topics related to the CanMEDS competencies and resident well-being.  There is an annual retreat for staff, residents, and their families. In the past few years, this has taken place at Jouvence, in Orford, Quebec.

LUCAS (Lower & Upper Canada Anesthesia Symposium) / McGill Continuing Medical Education (CME) Program

The Anesthesia Departments of  McGill University, the University of Ottawa and Queen's University have collaborated to present a joint refresher course, the Lower & Upper Canada Anesthesia Symposium (LUCAS). Residents are encouraged and supported to attend LUCAS.  There is also a visiting professor program throughout the academic year as part of the Department's active Continuing Medical Education Program, and all residents are expected to attend these sessions.

 

Research  

The McGill program includes involvement in a scholarly project during residency and offers a minimum of three periods in order to fulfill this requirement. The McGill Anesthesia Department offers great opportunities for different types of clinical and basic research, including quality assurance projects and research in medical education and simulation.  All residents are expected to present their academic work once during their residency at the annual McGill Anesthesia Day. It is possible to pursue a Master's degree within our Residency Program.

 

 

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Training Sites

Resources

• Royal Victoria Hospital
• Montreal General Hospital
• Jewish General Hospital
• Montreal Children's Hospital
• Montreal Neurological Institute
• St. Mary's Hospital Center
• CISSS de l'Outaouais, Hôpital de Hull
• CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, Hôpital du Suroît, Valleyfield

There are opportunities for inter-provincial and international electives in our program, usually in the senior years. Out-of-province electives are permitted after the resident has completed one-half of the program. For full details on electives, please see the McGill Faculty of Medicine Postgraduate Medical Education web-site.

There are opportunities for participation in global health initiatives by the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society International Education Foundation.

There is a mandatory three-month anesthesia rotation in a community hospital setting traditionally at either the CISSS de l'Outaouais (Hôpital de Hull) or the CISSS de la Monteregie-Ouest, Hôpital du Suroît, Valleyfield.  

Residents also have the opportunity to accompany an anesthesiologist for one week to provide anesthetic care in Kuujjuaq or Puvirnituq.

Residents receive one-on-one teaching with anesthesia staff in the operating room setting. There are an average of 40 anesthesia residents in the program, and approximately 100 teaching faculty in the McGill Department of Anesthesia.

Residents have access to electronic medical resources through the anesthesia departments at each hospital training site, as well as the hospital-based medical libraries and the McGill Health Sciences Library.

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Additional Information

McGill University proudly welcomes an international cohort of residents into its Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) each year. Residents gain valuable experience serving a diverse, multicultural community in French and English. In Quebec, residents are legally required to care for patients in French and in English. Therefore, PGME provides residents with French language acquisition tools and resources to help ensure each can care for Francophone patients, as well as fully benefit from their training experience. All residents are expected to participate in the French language courses offered by the PGME Office, throughout the duration of their training at McGill, where applicable. 

Program Governance

Major decisions about the organization and implementation of the program are made by the Residency Program Committee (RPC) of the Department of Anesthesia. This committee has strong resident representation, with three resident members, one of whom is the Chief Resident.

 

For information on student life in Montreal, please see the McGill Reporter article below:

https://reporter.mcgill.ca/montreal-named-best-student-city-in-north-america/

 

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FAQ

Question:

I was not able to secure an elective in Anesthesia. Will this affect my application?

Reply:

No. We understand that some people may decide to pursue a career in anesthesiology late in medical school. The McGill Residency Program in Anesthesiology is looking for excellent, well-rounded candidates.

Question:

I was not able to secure an elective at McGill University in Anesthesia or other related elective. Will this affect my application?

Reply:

No. We understand that the number of elective positions at McGill, particularly in Anesthesia, is extremely limited and this does not negatively affect your application.