Pain Medicine Residency

The duration of the program is 26 blocks, each of 4 weeks duration. Training curriculum will be distributed as follows:

Mandatory core of 13 blocks in the St. Joseph's multidisciplinary pain clinic.

There are 7 blocks of mandatory rotations :

1. Outpatient Psychiatry (2)

2. Addiction Medicine (1)

3. Psychiatry / Rheumatology (1)

4. Neurology (1)

5. Pediatric pain (1)

6. Cancer pain (1)

7. Acute Pain Service (1)

Residents are also provided with 6 blocks of selectives, through which to focus on an area of interest.

Depending on previous clinical work, which has been accomplished, trainees can receive up to 6-7 blocks of credit for previous training. This is subject to the discretion of the program director.

Interventional pain procedures (injections via ultrasound, radio frequency ablation, fluoroscopy, or landmark techniques) can be incorporated into the curriculum but are not mandatory training requirements. Training in interventional pain management is established as per the request of the trainee. Presently, an ultrasound machine is available within the outpatient pain clinic to perform procedures for a variety of pain conditions. Additionally, a fluoroscopy suite is available to perform interventions, which is run three days per week.

Selectives can be chosen by trainees and tailored to suit individual learning objectives. Examples of possible selective choices include oncology, emergency medicine, gastroenterology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, gynecology, urology, geriatrics, or radiology.

Payment of residents is scaled according to their respective year of residency. Information can be found here. 

Prerequisites

Those eligible to apply to Pain Medicine residency must hold, or currently be enrolled in a residency training program leading to, Royal College certification in Anesthesiology, Neurology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, Pediatrics or Emergency Medicine. Those holding certificates from other Royal College disciplines can still be considered for entry by special assessment of the program director.

If the language of instruction at your medical school was other than English, you must have writtent your IELTS test and obtained a Band score of 8 or higher to be eligible to apply. No exceptions.

The submission date for July 2015 applications has passed. We will now be accepting applications for July 2016. The due date for July 2016 submissions is September 7, 2015. Please send complete package by September 7, 2015 with the following:

• An up-to-date CV
• Completed Application form
• Personal Letter of Intent
• Three (3) letters of reference (Must use referee form). This must also be submitted directly by the referee. Please note, we will not accept referee forms submitted by the applicant.
• Copies of your medical degree, Anesthesia certification, and a copy of your immigration status (i.e. Passport, visa, etc.)

Forms & Resources

• Application Form (PDF)
• Referee Form (PDF)

• IELTS Website

For those interested in applying to the Western Pain Medicine Program, please send completed applications and accompanying information to:

The Pain Medicine Residency Program Committee is responsible for assisting the Residency Program Director (PD) in the planning, organization, and supervision of the Program. The committee must review, on an annual basis, both the overall and specific educational objectives of each component of the Program on an annual basis as structured to reflect and encourage development of the CanMEDS roles.

The Committee also ensures that admission, evaluation, remediation, appeals, and all other relevant processes are effective and consistent University Guidelines.

Membership includes physician specialists in anesthesia, psychiatry and addiction medicine, neurology, palliative care, pediatrics, rheumatology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and psychology and an elected resident representative.

Chair:
Dr. Geoff Bellingham

Members:
Dr. Jonathan Brookes
Dr. Collin Clarke
Dr. Heather Getty
Dr. Jeff Granton
Dr. Eldon Loh
Dr. Gregory McCarthy
Dr. Dwight Moulin
Dr. Raju Poolacherla
Dr. Shiraz Malik

Resident Representative:
Dr. Amjad Bader

• Terms of Reference for the Pain Medicine Residency Committee