PGY4/5 Subspecialty Residency Training Program
General Internal Medicine at Western University has been accredited as a two year PGY4/5 residency training program by the RCPSC as of July, 2014. A curriculum for the two year GIM program has been developed and has been implemented to fulfill the Standards of Training as set out by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).
For residents with a research or scholarly focus, funding through the Department of Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Resident Research Career Development Program is available on a competitive basis.
Competency by Design (CBD): The GIM program has transitioned to the CBD model as of July 2019. This has resulted in the following changes:
- CBD residents will undergo more frequent "in-the-moment" assessments (EPAs) on rotations instead of end-of-rotation evaluations
- CBD residents will have to complete all mandatory learning experiences in the first 18 months of training; the latter half of training can be utilized for selective learning experiences that are consistent with transition to practice plan
- Resident progress will be determined by a Competence Committee
Program Director
Dr. Marilyn Phung
Program Director General Internal Medicine
Program Administrator
Chrissy Kienapple
GIM Program Inquiries:
519-685-8500 ext 33071
Chrissy.Kienapple@lhsc.on.ca
Curriculum requirements (two year subspecialty program)
- Ambulatory Clinics (4 blocks) more info...
- CTU Junior Attending (2 blocks)
- Perioperative Medicine (2 blocks)
- Community GIM (1-2 blocks)
- Longitudinal Clinic (weekly half day clinics over 2 years)
- ICU/CCU (1 block)
- Obstetrical Medicine (1 block)
- Diagnostic Testing (1 block)
- Critical Care Ultrasound (1 block)
- Palliative Care (1 block)
- Research Project more info...
- Quality Imrpovement Project more info...
- IM POCUS
- CSRU
- Haematology / Thrombosis
- Urgent Neurology
- Infectious Disease
- Ambulatory Cardiology
- Research / Scholarly
- Community LHIN Hospitals including Chatham, Stratford, Sarnia, etc.
Program Highlights / Education
GIM Journal Club
Two recent journal articles are selected for presentation by the trainees and their assigned faculty
Topics covered: perioperative medicine, obstetric medicine, updates in general internal medicine
GIM Seminar Series
Scheduled twice a month
Trainees are paired with a faculty member and are responsible for delivering the seminar with support from the faculty member
Topics include the core GIM curriculum
Trainees are receive feedback on the presentation
Academic Half Days
Scheduled once a month
Topics covered: perioperative medicine, obstetric medicine, patient safety, preventative medicine, diagnostic testing, research statistics and practice management
Royal College Exam Preparation
GIM Faculty facilitated: trainees are paired with a faculty member for an oral mock exam in the fall and receive feedback
Program facilitated: trainees have to complete an MCQ exam and receive feedback
Department of Medicine facilitated: trainees can sign up in the fall for the oral exam preparation sessions organized by various department of medicine faculty and PGY5 trainees
Canadian Resuscitative Ultrasound Course
Two day course
Scheduled by Western SONO
Trainees will receive funding for course completion
Longitudinal GIM Clinics
CSIM Conference Attendance
Research and Quality Improvement
All trainees receive protected time to complete the QI curriculum and project. As of 2023 the program has introduced bi-monthly Research Lab Meetings at which residents can present their scholarly work progress and receive feedback from peers and faculty.
Residents can choose between a 1-month Research block or a longitudinal style Research experience spread over two or more blocks. Additional Research and Scholarly blocks can be arranged at the request of the resident.
Faculty supervisors are available for both research and QI projects
Research and QI presentations are scheduled for trainees so they may receive peer feedback in preparation for submitting their work to conferences or for publication