Trainee Development
Mandated by the Canadian Excellence in Residency Education (CanERA) General Standards of Accreditation for Residency Programs, residency programs are required to provide instruction to trainees in a number of areas. As such, the Postgraduate Medical Education office offers courses developed in-house and curates additional resources and training. These courses, resources, and training are part of the ongoing process of engaging in learning and development and are available to all accredited Residency and Area of Focused Competence (AFC) programs.
About Trainee Development
Residents are required to complete the following courses at least once during their residency:
- Digital Citizenship
- Resident as Teacher
- PGME Orientation
All other courses, resources, and training listed may be mandated by a residency program for their residents to complete in order to meet the General Standards of Accreditation for Residency Programs. All courses additionally notates the CanMEDS role for which they meet:
"CanMEDS is a framework that identifies and describes the abilities physicians require to effectively meet the health care needs of the people they serve. These abilities are grouped thematically under seven roles. A competent physician seamlessly integrates the competencies of all seven CanMEDS Roles."
PGME Courses
The PGME Courses are available to all residency and AFC programs to support them in meeting their accreditation requirements. The PGME Courses listed below are developed in-house by our past and present PGME directors.
Previously known as Social Media and You, Digital Citizenship has been designed primarily for junior trainees to further educate them on the professional use of social media platforms.
Delivery Method: Asynchronous online learning module
Time Commitment: Approx. thirty (30) minutes
CanMEDS Roles: Communicator, Professional
Learning Objectives:
- Gain strategies and suggestions on how best to use Social Media;
- Reflect on some conflicts and potential pitfalls when using digital technology in patient care;
- Recognize some of the jeopardies of the digital world.
Developed by: Sandy Dong, MD, MSc, FRCPC, DRCPSC, DABEM | PGME Director, Core Curriculum
To access this course, you must sign in with your university CCID.
This course will refresh and build upon your skills in effective communication. You will be guided through four difficult, but common, situations faced by Junior Residents. Instructions will be given based on your responses. You will be taught basic communication principles that can be applied throughout your residency.
Delivery Method: Asynchronous interactive online learning module
Time Commitment: Approx. thirty (30) minutes
CanMEDS Roles: Communicator, Collaborator
Developed by: Sandy Dong, MD, MSc, FRCPC, DRCPSC, DABEM | PGME Director, Core Curriculum
Quality Improvement (QI) is a valuable component of medical training because it allows physicians to initiate continuous improvements in an ever-changing and complex healthcare setting. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to learn the fundamentals of QI methodology through this module.
Delivery Method: Asynchronous online learning module
Time Commitment: Approx. thirty (30) minutes
CanMEDS Roles: Leader, Scholar, Professional
CanERA Standards: 3.2.2.4
Learning Objectives:
- Define QI and the elements of the Improvement Process;
- Distinguish between Research and QI;
- Describe QI concepts: Model for Improvement and Donabedian Framework;
- Practice using QI tools to define and plan improvement;
- Develop your own Project Charter.
Development led by: Elaine Yacyshyn, MD, MScHQ, FRCPC | Past PGME Director, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Curriculum (QuIPS)
To access this course, you must sign in with your university CCID.
RESEARCH+ is a community of practice for scholars which includes the following critical aspects:
- The program is entirely online, asynchronous, pace independent, and available to learners with any level of experience, including graduate-level training;
- RESEARCH+ is available at any time. Program Directors can set parameters for start and end dates if they choose;
- There are over 60 channels with relevant and practical resources for learners to explore based on their needs and interests;
- Deliverables focus on critical appraisal/peer review, developing a brief/research/grant proposal, research communication, and contributing to the community of practice;
- Learners apply research concepts to their topics of interest;
- A certificate is issued upon completion;
- RESEARCH+ is an optional opportunity for residents. Anyone can join RESEARCH+ for the community of practice and resources without completing the program's deliverables.
Delivery Method: Asynchronous online learning
CanMEDS Roles: Scholar
CanERA Standards: 3.2.5
Developed by: Deena Hamza, PhD | PGME Director, Research and Evaluation
Delivery Method: Facilitated group session for Academic Half Day (AHD), to be delivered either in-person or virtually
Time Commitment: Approx. fifty (50) minutes
CanMEDS Roles: Scholar
CanERA Standards: 9.1.1.2
Learning Objectives:
- Recognize the hidden curriculum and its influence on training and wellbeing.
- Discuss the effect of role-modeling with respect to the hidden curriculum.
- Begin to describe and apply strategies to mitigate harms caused by the hidden curriculum.
Developed by: Sandy Dong, MD, MSc, FRCPC, DRCPSC, DABEM | PGME Director, Core Curriculum
To access this course, you must sign in with your university CCID.
Even though the target audience for Fatigue Management is residents, we invite Program Directors, RPCs, Rotation Coordinators, and Clinical Leads to view it, as fatigue directly affects patient care. You will have real-world ideas of how programs and sites can change to minimize fatigue while maintaining quality care.
Delivery Method: Asynchronous online learning module
Time Commitment: Approx. forty-five (45) minutes
CanMEDS Roles: Professional
CanERA Standards: 3.2.2.5, 5.1.2
Learning Objectives:
- Gain personal strategies for managing fatigue;
- Recognize ways that the system can do better to address fatigue;
- Reflect on services and supports that are available to residents.
Developed by: Sandy Dong, MD, MSc, FRCPC, DRCPSC, DABEM | PGME Director, Core Curriculum
To access this course, you must sign in with your university CCID.
New trainees must read through this orientation material entirely, as this is a mandatory component of your training here. You will discover valuable individuals and stakeholders who will assist you in being successful in residency and fellowship. You will find practical resources and information to help you over time at the University of Alberta and throughout your training.
Delivery Method: Asynchronous online learning module and in-person orientation event (June 25, 2024, details TBA)
CanMEDS Roles: Professional
The link to the 2024 Orientation will be distributed via email to all incoming trainees by June 1, 2024. Please contact pgaccred@ualberta.ca if you do not receive the link after that date.
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (FoMD) Courses
The FoMD Courses are available to all residency and AFC fellowship programs to support them in meeting their accreditation requirements. The FoMD courses listed below are developed by FoMD faculty.
Resident as Teacher is a highly interactive 2-hour virtual session facilitated by Dr. Vijay Daniels, where you will discuss the fundamentals of clinical teaching. Trainees are required to complete this course once during their residency, and are typically expected to complete it before the end of the first year of residency at the University of Alberta (preferably).
Delivery Method: Synchronous Virtual Session via Zoom
Time Commitment: Two (2) hours
CanMEDS Roles: Leader
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the characteristics of effective clinical teachers;
- Discuss barriers to clinical teaching;
- Explain 12 tips for effective clinical teaching and how to apply them to sample situations.
Developed and facilitated by: Vijay Daniels, MD, MHPE, FRCPC, DRCPSC(CE)
Upcoming Dates: March 7, 2024, 1:00-3:00 p.m. | May 1, 2024, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Email pgaccred@ualberta.ca for registration information.
Racism exists everywhere and is pervasive. This course, developed by the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry for all learners, staff and faculty, aims to create awareness and understanding of racism, and provides tools to prevent and address it in our work and study environments.
CanMEDS Roles: Professional
How to register:
Please contact fomdfdev@ualberta.ca if you have questions or need assistance.
Additional Resources & Training (Curated by PGME)
The resources and training listed below have been reviewed, assessed, and curated by Dr. Sandy Dong, PGME Director, Core Curriculum, to ensure that they can be used by residency programs to meet the various accreditation standards.
Accompanying the curricula are four additional resources:
- Self-Assessment Tool - to help learners identify gaps in knowledge;
- Simulation Playbook – to provide case-based scenarios and hands-on learning opportunities;
- Faculty Development Tools - developed by physician and faculty development experts to assist with implementation;
- Patient-Physician Partnership Toolkit – to provide resources to patients and physicians to enhance partnership in care and conversations to promote safer opioid use.
Modules and all additional resources can be accessed here.
CanMEDS Roles: Medical Expert, Health Advocate
Evidence-based Practice for Improving Quality (EPIQ) is a collaborative approach that parallels the team-based nature of healthcare, giving groups the language, skills, and tools needed to carry out their first quality improvement project.
Learning Objectives:
- Why improvement science is valuable in health care and everyday life;
- Gain expertise in the quality improvement process and understand how to implement it in your environment;
- Establish a strong understanding of your opportunities for change;
- Break down the implementation into achievable steps.
For more information about this 4-hour workshop, please click here or contact an administrator with Lifelong Learning at lll@ualberta.ca.
CanERA Standards: 3.2.2.4
CanMEDS Roles: Leader, Scholar
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) focuses on innovations that create a total systems approach to safety, helping healthcare organizations enhance reliability and resilience by working to embed safety into every setting within a patient’s care journey with the belief that patients and those who care for them can and should be free from harm.
To access the 8 self-paced patient safety modules, please create an IHI account here. Once you have created an account, please email pgaccred@ualberta.ca to receive the University of Alberta PGME access code.
CanERA Standards: 3.2.2.4
CanMEDS Roles: Leader, Scholar
When a clinical outcome is not as anticipated and whatever the reasons are for harm, physicians will want to and are obligated to communicate directly with their patients. Communicating and disclosing what has occurred is necessary — and is the right thing to do. The discussion provides information, promotes safe and quality medical care, and can maintain trust and strengthen the physician-patient relationship.
The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) has created an online learning module on disclosing harm from healthcare delivery. To access the module, please click here.
CanERA Standards: 3.2.2.4
CanMEDS Roles: Leader, Professional
Effective communication and collaboration within healthcare teams are essential to safe healthcare. Organizational cultures that promote psychological safety among team members provide safe care for patients.
The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) has created an online learning module on safe teamwork. To access the module, please click here.
CanERA Standards: 3.1.1.4
CanMEDS Roles: Professional
By completing this training, physicians will better understand what micro-aggressions are, how to recognize them, why they are harmful and how to respond. Through a combination of education and practical scenarios, this course will help equip participants with the skills to identify, address and intervene in micro-aggressions. We are confident Alberta physicians will take valuable learning away from this voluntary course. Accreditation is in progress for this course, but physicians can currently claim credits for non-accredited learning from their national colleges.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) has created an online training module on micro-aggression. To access the module, please click here.
CanERA Standards: 3.1.1.4
CanMEDS Roles: Professional
Microaggressions in the workplace are highly prevalent and contribute to poor mental health outcomes and higher rates of physician burnout for those who experience them. This 30-minute module utilizes a psychiatric model, which emphasizes the cultural influences and conflict management styles that might influence participants’ willingness to intervene, both directly or indirectly, when faced with discrimination in the workplace.
The Stanford University School of Medicine has created an online training module on addressing bias in the workplace. To access the module, please click here.
CanERA Standards: 3.1.1.4, 5.1.2, 5.1.3
CanMEDS Roles: Professional
- review elements of valid informed consent
- communicating relevant information to patients
- documentation of consent discussion
Contact Us
Please email pgaccred@ualberta.ca for support, questions, and/or access.