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The following lung health fellowships are offered:
1. Fellowship In Respiratory Medicine (Clinical and Research)
2. Fellowship In Chest Imaging (VGH)
3. Fellowship In Critical Care Medicine
4. Fellowship in Thoracic Surgery
5. Fellowship In Occupational Health
FELLOWSHIP IN RESPIRATORY MEDICINE
Eligibility
Three years of approved residence training in general internal medicine. To be eligible for the Royal College Accreditation Examination in Respiratory Medicine at the completion of the program, the candidate must be certified in Internal Medicine by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Objectives are available on the
Remuneration
Salary is according to the P.A.R.I. (Professional Association of Residents and Interns of B.C.) scale for the clinical years, and is variable, depending on the source of support, for the research year.
Structure of the Training program
The program is approved by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. There are provisions for 2-3 trainees in Clinical Respiratory Disease, and for at least two training positions as Research Fellow in Respiratory Disease.
The program consists of two years of clinical training followed by one optional year of research. The two years of clinical training in Respiratory Disease consist of rotations at the Vancouver Hospital and St. Paul's Hospital. This will include 9-12 months of general in-patient respiratory medicine plus a minimum of two months intensive care, one month of pulmonary function laboratory and rotations in ambulatory respirology, tuberculosis, lung cancer, sleep disorders, and radiology. Two- 3 months of elective training will be available in the second year. The year of research training can be basic laboratory, clinical or epidemiologic investigation and is available at both hospitals. It includes training in clinical respiratory physiology.
The Respiratory Training Program at UBC is unique because it is an integrated program of faculty and resources from two different hospitals: Vancouver Hospital and St. Paul's Hospital.
CLINICAL PROGRAM
In-patient Care
During the clinical training, the respiratory fellow is responsible for the management of patients in the Respiratory Service in any of the hospitals he/she is rotating through under the supervision of the attending staff. He/she acts in a supervisory capacity for the general medical resident(s) and medical student interns rotating through the Respiratory Service.
There are usually about 20-30 patients on the Respiratory Service in both St. Paul's Hospital and Vancouver Hospital at any one time. Daily working ward rounds with attending staff are held as well as formal teaching rounds once or twice weekly. In both hospitals there is a close liaison with the thoracic surgery units.
Procedures
The respiratory fellows are expected to perform the following procedures under the supervision of the attending staff when necessary: thoracocentesis, pleural biopsy, percutaneous needle biopsy of the lung, insertion of chest tubes, fiber optic bronchoscopy with bronchial biopsy and brushings. Trainees are expected to perform more than 100 fiber optic bronchoscopies during the clinical year.
Lung Function Laboratories
Both hospitals have well equipped laboratories for pulmonary function tests. Both St. Paul's Hospital and Vancouver Hospital have pulmonary mechanics and exercise testing equipment. Vancouver Hospital also has an inhalation challenge laboratory for assessment of patients with occupational asthma. Trainees spend one month in the pulmonary function laboratories learning how to measure and interpret pulmonary function studies.
Intensive Care
Intensive care training is available at St. Paul's Hospital and Vancouver Hospital, and scheduling is flexible to accommodate those with or without special interest in intensive care.
Tuberculosis
Vancouver Hospital has the only tuberculosis ward in British Columbia. It has 18 beds and 2-3 admissions per week.
Ambulatory Care
At Vancouver Hospital there is an outpatient clinic where approximately 800 new respiratory patients are seen annually. Similar numbers attend respiratory physicians' outpatient clinics at St. Paul's. The trainees are expected to attend one half-day longitudinal outpatient clinic per week during the second year of clinical training. Specialty clinics are available in tuberculosis, sleep disorders, lung cancer and occupational lung disease during a 2- 3 month ambulatory rotation. Rehabilitation program for patients with chronic obstructive lung disease are available at St. Paul's Hospital.
Respiratory Sleep and Neuromuscular Disorders
There is a multi-disciplinary sleep disorders clinic and a six bed sleep laboratory at the UBC site of Vancouver Hospital. 21 overnight sleep studies are performed weekly. Over 4,000 patients with respiratory sleep and neuromuscular disorders are currently being followed. Expertise exists to treat these patients with nasal CPAP, nasal ventilation, oral appliances and surgery. A rotation in Sleep Disorders is incorporated in to the training program.
Laser Therapy
Photodynamic therapy and YAG laser therapy for endobronchial tumours are being carried out regularly at Vancouver Hospital.
Cystic Fibrosis
The adult cystic fibrosis clinic is located at St. Paul's Hospital. Approximately 100 patients are followed as out-patients with 5 in-patient beds dedicated to the care of cystic fibrosis patients.
Spinal Cord Program
The spinal cord program is located at Vancouver Hospital. Trainees are involved in the management of the respiratory complications of approximately 100 spinal cord injured patients/year.
Organized Teaching
During the course of two years, trainees are expected to participate in organized teaching. This consists of:
In addition, trainees are expected to attend organized teaching in the individual hospitals where they are rotating, eg. combined medical-thoracic surgical rounds, respiratory rounds, clinical-radiology-pathology rounds. The applicants should note that to satisfy requirements of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, they are required to be registered with UBC as trainees, and if accepted, will be required to pay UBC a registration fee of $332.00.
RESEARCH PROGRAM
The research program is hospital-based.
St. Paul's Hospital
A multi-disciplinary Pulmonary Research Laboratory exists at St. Paul's Hospital. The group consists of members from the Departments of Pathology, Medicine and Surgery, and is dedicated to the investigation of pathophysiologic relationships in various lung diseases. This laboratory contains extensive equipment for measurement of pulmonary function and mechanics in animals, and includes a well-equipped surgical laboratory containing an x-ray table for fluoroscopy unit. In addition, facilities are available for protein chemistry and immunology, and for detailed pathological studies, including light and electron microscopy. Studies presently being conducted in this laboratory include:
Vancouver Hospital
Vancouver Hospital encompasses both the former Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital which merged in 1993. The Vancouver Hospital has an active research laboratory where studies involving measurements of detailed lung mechanics are conducted, as well as facilities for studies of gas exchange, exercise tolerance and ventilatory responses to CO2 and hypoxia. In addition, there is an active immunology laboratory with provisions for testing for serum precipitins, preparation of antigens, measurement of plasma histamine, leukotriene and prostaglandin radio immunnoassays and another laboratory with facilities for studies on neutrophil elastase, alveolar macrophage cultures, serum and bronchial protease inhibitors. The respiratory sleep disorders program at the UBC site has extensive non-invasive equipment and computer facilities for on-line analysis of overnight sleep studies and the detailed examination of breathing patterns. There is also an animal laboratory which includes biplane fluoroscopy for measurement of respiratory mechanics, hemodynamics and muscle activity. The group at the Vancouver Hospital has expertise in asthma, occupational asthma and occupational lung diseases, epidemiology, environmental lung disease, respiratory sleep and neuromuscular disorders, lung cancer, transplantation and tuberculosis. Among the projects which are currently being pursued at the Vancouver Hospital are the following:
Tuberculosis
Asthma Research
Occupational and Environmental Studies
Lung Cancer Research
Chronic Obstructive Lung Research
Respiratory Muscle Disorders
Applications
Respiratory Medicine Fellowship
Applications for clinical programs are through CaRMS http://www.carms.ca/
Frank Ryan, MB, FRCPI, FRCPC, FCCP
Director, Post Graduate Training Program
C/O Margie Bell
The Lung Centre, 7th Floor
2775 Laurel Street
Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 1M9 Canada
Phone: (604) 875-4327
Fax: (604) 875-4695
E-mail:
The applicants should note that to satisfy requirements of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, they are required to be registered with UBC as trainees, and if accepted, will be required to pay UBC a registration fee of $332.00.
FELLOWSHIP IN CHEST IMAGING (VGH)
The University of British Columbia, Department of Radiology offers fellowship positions in Chest Imaging at the Vancouver General Hospital site along with other subspecialties of Radiology.
Website:http://www.radiology.ubc.ca/home.htm
Description of the program
The UBC Radiology Fellowships provide advanced training, excellent clinical exposure and supervised experience in all aspects of radiology. Fellows are encouraged to participate in basic science and clinical research projects. Protected academic time is provided and the teaching of research methodology, epidemiology, statistics, and study design is offered. The Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia is accredited by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada for specialist training purposes in clinical radiology.
Eligibility
Applicants must have a medical degree and specialty diploma (Radiology) or will be completing an accredited residency program in diagnostic radiology to be eligible for licensure.
Application Requirements
UBC Department of Radiology does not have a formal application form, however, we do require that you submit the following documentation before September 30, 2010.
A letter of application indicating why you wish to do a Fellowship in Vancouver and also outlining your areas of interest. A copy of your current CV, Three (3) original reference letters, signed and on official letterhead, to be mailed directly to the Fellowship Director from your referees.
You may e-mail your letter of application and CV directly to the assistant to the Program Director; however, please have your three (3) referees mail their reference letters directly to the Fellowship Director to the address indicated in the table below. Candidates will be selected for interview after the application deadline date. All applicants will be notified of their application status within approximately one month after the application deadline date.
This one-year fellowship is from July 1, to June 30 in the Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia at the Vancouver General Hospital. The fellowship provides advanced training in chest imaging under the supervision of Drs. Nestor Müller and John Mayo. The fellowship includes all aspects of lung imaging and lung biopsies plus experience in cardiac CT and MR. Chest fellows are expected to participate in multi disciplinary conferences on a regular basis and present at least one formal lecture to staff during the year. Chest fellows are also encouraged to participate in clinical and basic research projects and to publish manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. Protected academic time is provided and funding is available to attend conferences. This fellowship is a supervised training grade post.
Applications
Completed application forms fellowship programs should be directed to
Professor
C/O Patria Moe, Administrator
Department of Radiology
University of British Columbia
Jim Pattison Pavilion North
3350-950 West 10th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 4E3 Canada
Email: patricia.moe@vch.ca
FELLOWSHIP IN CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE
The University of British Colombia offers Critical Care Medicine (T) training leading to a Fellowship Diploma in Critical Care Medicine. Currently, the Division of Critical Care Medicine uses the Vancouver General Hospital and ST.Paul's as a training site.
Description of program
Our program is structured to provide trainees with both an outstanding clinical and research environment in which to learn. In what we feel is the best interest of our trainees, we have moved to a blended program, whereby the clinical work is spread over the entire two years, and the research component is adjusted to meet the career goals of the individual trainee. In this system, each trainee will complete twelve months of adult critical care medicine, shared between the two participating teaching hospitals (Vancouver General Hospital & St Paul's Hospital), although we may move to include a two month 'community hospital rotation' in the coming year. Other core rotations include a month at the B.C. Children's Hospital ICU usually in year 1, and 1 month of 'cardiac critical care' (post-cardiac surgical ICU and coronary care) and 10 months of intense respiratory critical care training in year 2. We feel strongly that Critical Care Medicine is a complex discipline, requiring the trainee to acquire a large body of knowledge and skills in a relatively short two-year period.
Individuals interested in a research career (whether this be basic science or clinical research) will be mentored towards identifying and completing a research project. This is achieved through a one-month preparatory rotation in year 1 during which the trainee will select a supervisor and project, do the necessary background reading and prepare a detailed proposal. In year 2, a research block allows the trainee to complete the project. Individuals choosing this track are required to complete at least one of the following: an abstract, poster, paper, or present at a meeting or "resident's research day". Individuals hoping for a more in depth research experience will be encouraged to consider enrolling in the Clinical Investigators Program. The third possible track is for individuals interested in an academic career related to education. These individuals will again be given a one-month rotation in their first year in which to identify a supervisor, and project. Again, they will be expected to do background reading, outline a project with goals suitable to the mentor and Training Committee.
All residents will also be required to complete a Quality Improvement/Quality Assurance project during their two years of training. Projects and mentors will be identified in the first year of training.
The remaining months are available for electives in Respiratory Medicine. The content and nature of each elective experience is designed to enhance the competence of the trainee, and must be agreed upon with the Program Director.
In addition to clinical and research work, we run an active academic program. We are constantly striving to improve our trainees experience and learning. Each year in July we start our Academic Half Day. It begins with an 8 - week introductory "core curriculum" primarily for new trainees, although we have found that the senior members of our program attend these sessions in their second year and find them beneficial. From September through May our Academic Half Day is Thursday afternoon and has a varied format. It includes case based presentations, where a selected resident with the help of a mentor, prepares a case (the topic and objectives are assigned) with questions that are distributed in advance to his/her fellow residents. On the day the case is presented, there is a lively discussion answering questions and reviewing the literature surrounding the preset questions. Over the course of the two years, residents will be exposed to the core concepts of Critical Care Medicine. In addition to the case-based presentations, there is a seminar series, interspersed with practical sessions following a pre-arranged, two-year rotating schedule so that each trainee completes the full curriculum during his or her time in the program. The other components of the Academic Half Day includes; a more informal "interesting" case presentation brought forward in turn from each Hospital, and presented by the trainee concerned, Journal Club sessions, Research-in-Progress sessions (each trainee is expected to present a research/QI in progress during their 2-year program) and sessions devoted to ethics, statistics, obstetrical and pediatric critical care as well as issues surrounding the air transport of critically ill patients. Critical care faculty members are assigned to mentor and participate in the Case-Based Presentations, and there is usually good faculty participation during other interactive sessions. As part of the evaluation process, all Academic Half Day sessions are rated and the results of the rating process are returned to the presenter as an encouragement, and an aid to improvement.
Finally, in addition to the above sessions, we require all of the Critical Care residents to be certified in the Advance Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course, the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course. As well, residents are enrolled and expected to become Instructors of the Fundamentals of Critical Care Medicine (FCCS) course. Support for these courses comes from the Training Program. At least four times a year residents will be observed (not for evaluation, but for education) managing a scenario with the use of our simulator.
Eligibility
The application form is required by the University of British Columbia and should be returned to the Program Director together with three letters of reference along with a passport sized photograph. We encourage applicants to provide at least one referee who can speak to the previous critical care experience and ability of the candidate.
Applications are reviewed and short-listed by the Critical Care Medicine Program Training Committee. Short listed candidates are then offered an interview at which time they will meet faculty and fellows in both participating hospitals. All those involved in the interview process complete an evaluation and these evaluations, together with the letters of reference are considered again by the Training Committee who makes the final recommendation on appointment. We normally like to have the process completed by October/November of the year before the start date (in accordance with the other training sites across Canada), and are therefore in the process of recruiting for entry in July 2008. It would therefore be advisable to have a competed application in to our office by September 15th.
Salaries are in agreement with the requirements of the University of British Columbia and PAR BC. Apart from the salary, the Program provides an additional amount to allow each trainee to attend a scientific meeting once each year. If you require further information please do not hesitate to contact us.
We accept applicants who have completed or are in their final year of training in one of the recognized base specialties. These include; Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, and Cardiac Surgery. Funding is provided by the Ministry of Health for Canadian's who have finished or are in the process of finishing their base training from a Royal College of Canada approved program.
Individuals with base training from other countries may apply; however, they should realize that both funding and positions are very limited. In addition, they must understand that satisfactorily completing training does not allow them to obtain certification through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Be advised: this is not a back door entry to practice in Canada.
Applications
Applications for clinical programs are through CaRMS http://www.carms.ca/
Katherine Craig, MD FRCPC
Director, Post Graduate Training Program
C/O Ana Palomino
Program Secretary, Adult Critical Care Medicine
Vancouver General Hospital
ICU, JPPN2, Room 2438
855 West 12th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 1M9 Canada
Phone: (604) 875-5949
Fax: (604) 875-5957
Email: Ana.Palomino@vch.ca
FELLOWSHIP IN THORACIC SURGERY
The University of British Colombia offers Thoracic Surgical (T) training leading to a Fellowship Diploma in Thoracic Surgery. Currently, the Division of Thoracic Surgery uses the Vancouver General Hospital as a training site.
The Vancouver General Hospital is a tertiary care referral centre located at 12th Avenue & Oak Street. The Division of Thoracic Surgery Resident Training Program covers the whole spectrum of Thoracic Surgical diseases including lung transplantation, surgical management of respiratory failure, esophageal surgery, and minimally invasive surgery. Because of its geographical proximity with the British Columbia Cancer Agency (Vancouver Site), it has developed special expertise in complex thoracic oncological problems.
The University of British Columbia training in Thoracic Surgery leads to a Fellowship Diploma in Thoracic Surgery and is comprised of one and one-half years of clinical exposure in Thoracic Surgery, six months in Cardiac Surgery, and one year of basic or clinical research. One ministry funded position is available July 1, 2011 for a three year program to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant who has successfully completed their General Surgery Residency Training and is eligible to take the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Fellowship in General Surgery Exams. Objectives are available on the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada website.
We invite you to request applications through the Program Assistant Nicky.Dorken@vch.ca or the Director of Postgraduate Training in Thoracic Surgery, Dr. Kenneth G. Evans kge@interchange.ubc.ca . Completed applications, along with a letter of interest, three reference. letters, and photocopies of transcripts should be received by the Division of Thoracic Surgery by January 2011, with interviews in March 2011.
We also have an Externally funded position available July 2011 to a candidate who has successfully completed their General Surgery Residency Training in Canada and is eligible to take the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Fellowship in General Surgery Exams. If you are interested in this position, please contact Nicola Dorken, the Program Assistant in Thoracic Surgery Nicky.Dorken@vch.ca for an application. Deadline for submission of applications is January 2010 with interviews in March 2010.
Please send your application to:
Division of Thoracic Surgery
#3100, 910 West 10th Avenue,
Vancouver, BC V5Z 4E3
Phone: (604) 875-4111, Ext. 62295
Fax: (604) 875-4036
Elective Rotations
Postgraduate training elective rotations of one to three months will be considered. Please address your request to Dr. K.G. Evans as above
Undergraduate training electives of two weeks are occasionally available for out-of-province third year medical students. Applications are available from the UBC, Faculty of Medicine, Undergraduate Dean’s Office.
Dr. Kenneth Evans - Director of Postgraduate Education
Program Assistant Nicola Dorken
Dr. Richard Finley Director of Undergraduate Education
Program Assistant Nicola Dorken
Elective Rotations
Postgraduate training elective rotations of one to three months will be considered. Please address your request to Dr. K.G. Evans as above
Undergraduate training electives of two weeks are occasionally available for out-of-province third year medical students. Applications are available from the UBC, Faculty of Medicine, Undergraduate Dean's Office.
FELLOWSHIP IN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH