External Review of the residency

On October 3rd, 2012 the Royal College will be onsite to conduct an external review of the Emergency Medicine program here at Western. In preparation for this review, Mike Peddle and I will be conducting an online survey of residents and faculty to help identify the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the program. We hope that this will allow the Residency Program Committee (RPC) to correct perceived problems before the official visit in October.
As is apparent, the residents have enjoyed great success in the past year in areas including research, point of care ultrasound, simulation opportunities, and Fellowship pursuits. As of 2008, the residents are required to complete a six month block of study not directly related to core Emergency Medicine. Many residents have chosen to complete these studies in their PGY4 and/or PGY5 years and this has led to the perception that they are working fewer shifts in the department. Although technically correct, PGY4’s are responsible for completing 15 shifts per month and PGY5’s complete 14 shifts. If they pursue a year-long course of study, they are described as completing 6 months of EM and 6 months of Fellowship for that year. In this year, a PGY4 completes 7-8 shifts/month and a PGY5 6-7 shifts/month. This organization allows them to complete the required number of core EM blocks, the required 6 months of non-core EM, and still keeps Western well above average for the amount of core EM they complete within the residency. Additionally, it allows the resident to maintain consistent exposure to EM while completing their 6 months of non-core EM blocks.
The on-line survey will be anonymous, so we encourage you to be completely honest when identifying our program’s weaknesses. Many thanks for your continued support for the FRCP program.