Enhanced Skills
Our Enhanced Skills (PGY3) Program offers a wide range of options if you are a resident interested in pursuing additional training after your core 2-year Family Medicine Residency.
The Enhanced Skills program is a third year residency program meant to prepare family physicians who are responsive to the needs of their community. The program is designed to provide family medicine residents with training in a specific area they feel they require additional training in or training required to help them service a specific community need.
For more information on which programs offer rural / regional experiences, please see our programs information below.
Admissions Deadlines
- Application Opens — August 20, 2018
- Application Deadline — October 5, 2018
- Interview Period — October 8 to December 3, 2018
- Acceptance Notification — December 6, 2018
- Deadline for Acceptance — December 2018
Eligibility
The Enhanced Skills Program will review applications from current PGY2 residents who are registered in a Canadian Family Medicine Residency Program at the time of their application. Residents must start their PGY3 year within 12 months of completing their PGY2 year.
(Practicing physicians must apply separately through the Re-Entry Program of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, and not directly to the university. Applications from practicing physicians will not be accepted for the Enhanced Skills Program. Please view information about the Re-Entry Program here. Different timelines apply to Re-Entry Applicants.)
The Enhanced Skills Emergency Medicine Program application process is a separate CaRMS based process. Please see the CaRMS website for more information.
Enhanced Skills Contact: fmpgy3@mcmaster.ca
Our Enhanced Skills Program offers a wide range of options for residents that would benefit from additional or advanced skills in preparation for their future practice. Interested Residents in their second year will apply to either the Urban or Rural stream based on career intentions. The Department is able to offer these programs through its partnerships with both ROMP and Mac-Care.
For a closer look at the program options listed below, please see our Enhanced Skills Information Sheet.
Urban
- Care of the Elderly – Six or 12 month option at the Hamilton site.
- Palliative Care – 12 months available at the Hamilton or Kitchener-Waterloo sites.
- Sports and Exercise Medicine – 12 months available at the Hamilton or Kitchener-Waterloo sites.
- Obstetrics and Women’s Health – Three to 12 months available at the Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Brampton sites.
- Self-Designated Program – Three to 12 months available at all sites.
Rural
- Anesthesia – 12 months
- Self-Designated Preparation for Rural Practice – Three to 12 months
- Women’s Health and Obstetrics – Three to 12 months
Please complete the Enhanced Skills Application 2018.
- Updated curriculum vitae
- Completed Application Form
- A letter including the following:
- Your goals and objectives for the program;
- How the added experience will fit with your future practice needs;
- The ways you might be better enabled to contribute to the community, the Department of Family Medicine, or the discipline of Family Medicine in general.
- A letter of support from your Program Director which speaks to your academic performance and professionalism.
- Two letters of support from referees who can speak to your professionalism and interpersonal skills.
Please mail or email reference letters to the following:
Department of Family Medicine
c/o Sam Buma – Enhanced Skills Application
David Braley Health Sciences Centre
100 Main Street West, 2nd Floor
Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1Email: fmpgy3@mcmaster.ca
