Critical Care Medicine Clinical Fellowship
Introduction
The Critical Care Medicine Clinical Fellowship at the University of Toronto is truly an international program. Our alumni, with whom we continue to collaborate, include former fellows from countries all over the World including: Australia, Brazil, United States, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Singapore, Argentina, Ireland, Spain, and Israel. We have trained leaders in critical care throughout the World and the Clinical Fellowship is an essential vehicle for the Division’s Global Outreach Program - helping improve the quality and delivery of patient care in every continent.
The Critical Care Medicine program provides clinical fellows with an exceptional clinical, educational, and research experience. Our aim is to recruit those trainees who are about to or have recently completed their Critical Care training in their home country. It is important to the success of our educational programs that we have learners that are at different postgraduate levels, different educational and professional goals, and who will augment one another’s learning.
Our program is recognized by the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, and upon completion fellows are awarded a certificate from the University that attests to their achievement. Many of our fellows will sit the European Diploma of Intensive Care Medicine (EDIC) and American Board of Internal Medicine Critical Care examinations during their time with us. They have found our academic program to be invaluable for exam preparation.
The clinical experience offered by the program spans the breadth of critical care. Each fellow will spend time at one or more of our university hospitals: St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, and Mount Sinai Hospital. In addition to affording patients the highest standard of general adult intensive care, each is a tertiary referral centre for subspecialty critical care, as detailed later.
The fellowship program is usually offered initially as a one year program but can be extended to two or three years. This would be at the discretion of the Site Fellowship Director and Department Chief, and subject to the performance of applicants and their educational goals.
Elective opportunities
Electives within the Fellowship Program are also encouraged. The advantages to clinical fellows are identical to trainees in the Residency Program; enabling development of sub-specialty expertise in Critical Care and also to experience the full breadth of the University of Toronto Critical Care experience. For example fellows based at Sunnybrook or St. Michael’s Hospitals should rotate to Toronto General Hospital to gain exposure to Extracorporeal Life Support and Solid-Organ Transplant ICU management. Clinical Fellows from the UHN Program should reciprocate to gain experience in Neuroscience and Trauma ICU at Sunnybrook or St. Michael’s Hospital sites.
Fellowship electives can be nominated from any of the recognized Royal College medical or surgical subspecialties, and can be taken at any one of the Academic centres or affiliates. They include but are not limited to the following list:
- Anaesthesiology
- Burns Management
- Cardiovascular Surgery
- Cardiovascular ICU
- Neurocritical Care
- Trauma ICU
- Paediatric Critical Care
- Community ICU
- Critical Care Ultrasound
- Palliative Care Medicine
- Echocardiography
- Neurosurgery
- Radiology
- Transplantation (Lung, Liver, Heart, Bone Marrow)
- Transport Medicine
- Nephrology and Dialysis
- Trauma Surgery
- Toxicology
- Emergency Medicine
For information regarding experiences outside of Canada, please read the information from the University of Toronto contained with the Appendix: Global Health Initiatives.
Subspecialty Examination Affiliate Program (SEAP)
In March 2014, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Council approved a proposal to create an examination program and affiliate category for non-certified subspecialists. To be eligible for the examination in Critical Care Medicine fellows would have to meet Royal College requirements and this will include successful completion of a two-year training program that is to all intents, contracts, and purposes identical to that of the Royal College Residency.
SEAP does not create a new pathway to Royal College Fellowship, nor can successful subspecialty exam candidates use the FRCPC or FRCSC designation. The Affiliate status provides a mechanism for maintaining engagement with the Royal College and participating in the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program. It does not confer Royal College membership or Fellowship status, however those who pass the exam will be provided a Royal College attestation of their successful completion and offered the option to become a Royal College Subspecialist Affiliate.
If this examination pathway is of interest to you and of value to your future career in Critical Care Medicine then it is important to complete a specific Clinical Fellowship Program that will meet College requirements. This will need to be confirmed with the Program Director’s office before commencement.
Please note SEAP is not currently available for 2022.
Applications
To apply at the University Health Network (UHN) and Sinai Health System (SHS), please contact Kasia Briegmann-Samson Kasia.Briegmann-Samson@uhn.ca, Program Coordinator.
To apply at St. Michael’s Hospital, please contact:
Dr. Alberto Goffi -Alberto.Goffi@unityhealth.to
Dr. Nava Maham - Nava.Maham@unityhealth.to
To apply at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, please contact Dr. Cameron Guest (cameron.guest@sunnybrook.ca)