Year 1 Curriculum
The PGY1 program provides a superb introduction to the Department of Psychiatry and the areas of medicine relevant to a career in psychiatry. Additionally, these rotations facilitate success on the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) Part II.
Our psychiatry program was a forerunner in delivering an orientation block for the first four weeks of residency. An Orientation/Transition to Residency block is now standard across all psychiatry programs in the Competence by Design (CBD) curriculum; however, Western has been delivering a similar program for over ten years. In our orientation block, we offer refresher sessions on core general medical competencies in addition to pre-clinical exposure to different aspects of psychiatry practice, including familiarization with community resources and the wider mental health system in our city.
The off-service rotations for PGY1 include Neurology (Outpatient and CTU), Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Addictions Medicine, a Medical Service Selective, and a second Selective, which may consist of psychiatric or more off-service rotations, as per resident preference. These rotation offerings allow for a learner-centered curriculum, which aligns with the CBD model while meeting RCPSC requirements and the need for experience in various specialties. All rotations will be supervised with direct observation, using Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) assessments, in keeping with the CBD model.
The first year’s rotations include General Adult Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Central Emergency Psychiatry Services (CEPS), Addictions (which is partly Family Medicine and partly Psychiatry), and Selective options in psychiatry.
To round out the year, residents have the opportunity to choose two blocks of selective training drawn from many areas of medicine or psychiatry. Popular choices have included: Sleep Medicine, Palliative Care, Internal Medicine subspecialties, Pain Medicine, Consult-Liaison Psychiatry, First Episode Mood and Anxiety Program (FEMAP), and Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychosis (PEPP).
