Family Medicine
Family Medicine
We strive for excellence in teaching, using creative and innovative programs that support an educational foundation for students in the field of Family Medicine, celebrating the collaborative aspects of practice and modeling life-long learning to our students, emphasizing the importance of continuity of care and the doctor/patient relationship.
Pre-Clerkship (MED I and II)
The Department contributes to various units of the pre-clerkship curriculum as unit leads, tutors, and examiners. Students complete a longitudinal Family Medicine experience in their first year, spending six half days with a family physician. As well, students have the opportunity for more clinical exposures to family medicine by completing a Med II elective.
Clerkship (MED III and IV)
For the core component of clerkship (Med III), some students complete a six week Family Medicine Clinical Clerkship rotation. Students have the option of completing either two three-week rotations or one six-week rotation with family doctors throughout the Maritimes. Other students will work primarily with a family medicine preceptor(s) in a Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC).
Orientation, webinars and project presentations are done throughout each six week rotation via distributed education. LIC students will view these webinars to support their learning. Clerks are evaluated by In Training Evaluation Reports, OSCEs and a Multiple Choice Exam. Resources for Family Medicine Clerkship are provided on BrightSpace, the clerkship Syllabus and the Clerkship Objective webpage.
Electives
Additional Family Medicine rotations are available to clerks during their fourth year through elective opportunities throughout the Maritimes.
Continuing Medical Education
The Department of Family Medicine offers Faculty Development to support their preceptors in their roles as teachers according to the roles outlined in the Fundamental Teaching Activities Framework of the CFPC or based on the new and emerging needs in the education of our leaners. They partner with the Faculty Development program within the Faculty of Medicine to develop and offer additional resources to assist preceptors.
For Continuing Medical Education as it relates to clinical work, faculty are directed to the Continuing Professional Development and Medical Education websites.
Residency Training
The Department of Family Medicine offers a two-year residency program. Our aim is to encourage our residents to become effective, compassionate family physicians who can care for their patients in hospital, ambulatory and community settings and are prepared to meet the changing health needs of the community. The program is accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and candidates who complete this program are eligible to sit the certification examinations of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
The Dalhousie Family Medicine residency program has approximately 180 residents (91in each year) being taught across the Maritimes. There are ten principal teaching sites: (Annapolis Valley, Cape Breton, Fredericton, Halifax, Miramichi, Moncton, North Nova, Prince Edward Island, Saint John and South West Nova) and many small communities where residents complete clinical learning experiences. Each of the tensites is a home base for a group of residents.
We also offer a three year integrated Family Medicine Emergency Medicine Program based in Saint John and Sussex in New Brunswick and Sydney, Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. This program provides a training model that will prepare comprehensive family physicians with a special focus on the provision of emergency care. To better integrate the training of a physician who will practice Family and Emergency Medicine concurrently, this program combines the two aspects of practice in a more cohesive manner.
The enhanced skills residency programs in Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Palliative Care and Care of the Elderly are also available as extensions of the two-year Family Medicine program and are also accredited programs of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
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