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:

  1. CBD residents will undergo more frequent "in-the-moment" assessments (EPAs) on rotations instead of end-of-rotation evaluations
  2. 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
  3. 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...
Elective rotations are tailored to meet the career goals of the individual trainee. Common elective choices include: additional ICU or community rotations, non-invasive cardiology, or ambulatory sub-specialty rotations. Examples include:

  • 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

Scheduled once a month

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

During the ambulatory GIM block, all trainees attend longitudinal clinics with selected faculty where patients are followed by the trainee to provide continuity of care and to develop outpatient consultative skills.

CSIM Conference Attendance

Funding for residents to attend yearly CSIM Conference

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