The diversity of Family Medicine Fellowship programs

Angela Naismith, BSc, MD
Jean Warneboldt, MD

CJRM 2005;10(4):268

Autumn has fallen. This is a bustling time of year full of coloured leaves, school-supply shopping and 3rd-year fellowship applications. Those interested in a 3rd-year fellowship are busy preparing resumes and cover letters and organizing references for another application process.

Of the Family Medicine Fellowship programs, Emergency Medicine is the most formally recognized program with an accompanying licensing exam. However, it is far from the only program available. If it is diversity you are after, you have chosen the correct career path. Options abound! Whether you are a family medicine resident wondering if that rotation can be more than a passing interest, or a physician in a rural community where an area of need has been identified, there are opportunities for you.

A good place to obtain information is the College of Family Physicians of Canada Web site (www.cfpc.ca). Under the 'Students and Residents' tab, there is a breakdown of many available 3rd-year programs and links to most Canadian university Web sites. The 3 programs widely recognized and most formally organized are Emergency Medicine, Anesthesia and Palliative Care. However, new programs are continually under development (Table 1). One of the exciting new programs that is peeking over the horizon is Research.

In addition to these programs, many academic centres have flexible Enhanced Skills options that vary in length from 2 months to 1 year and are tailored to the enterprising resident. They are designed by you to fit your particular need. The bottom line is that if you have an interest for which there is an established need, contact the Family Medicine department at your nearest university to explore, and reach, your goal.

All these exciting options exist to broaden our horizons, but at what cost? There are basically 2 ways to obtain funding to support yourself through training. One is with a return of service contract, which is often 1:1 to the time spent training. The other option is to obtain funding through the university or province. As with the first 2 years of residency, this has no return-of-service requirement. The salaries are based on the Resident contract for PGY3s for each province, and range from approximately $45 327-$53 455.

Fellowship training provides an illustration of the options that exist in our field. Family Medicine continues to offer us variety at every turn. Options, such as those provided by these training programs, create colleagues as diverse as the colours of the autumn leaves.

Correspondence to:; Jean Warneboldt; jean_warneboldt@alumni.sfu.ca

© 2005 Society of Rural Physicians of Canada