UBC distributed medical education and medical residency training expansion
What is happening?
The Government of BC announced the expansion of UBC’s MD Undergraduate Program (MDUP) by 40 seats, and postgraduate medical residency training programs (PGME) by up to 88 seats, which will be phased in across the province beginning in 2023.
In the coming weeks, there will be a process to seek input and advice on how to maximize increased supports for physician preceptors and program delivery teams to ensure sustained quality of medical education overall. This will include engagement with the MDUP and its distributed sites, PGME residency programs and UBC departments.
Further, there are a number of UBC activities that will happen in parallel, which include engagement with our faculty leadership and community, partners and key stakeholders, and Faculty and university governance approval processes.
Where and when will the new seats be added?
The 40 new seats in the MDUP will be phased in beginning in 2023 and regionally distributed across the province as proposed:
- Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program by 16 (from 192 seats to 208);
- Northern Medical Program by 8 (from 32 seats to 40);
- Southern Medical Program by 8 (from 32 seats to 40); and
- Island Medical Program by 8 (from 32 seats to 40).
UBC’s PGME programs will be expanded by up to 88 new positions, including:
- Initially, the UBC Family Medicine Residency program will be expanded over the next two years, bringing the program total from 174 seats to up to 204 seats. These positions will be regionally distributed across UBC’s family medicine residency training locations throughout the province.
- A further increase in residency seats, which mirrors the MDUP expansion, will be phased in to add another 48 postgraduate medical education positions for family medicine and other specialties, with a particular focus on the unique health care needs of communities across the province.
Why are we doing this?
A key commitment of the UBC Faculty of Medicine lies within our contract with society, which is placing patients at the centre of everything we do. This means, in part, ensuring greater equity and access to medical education and training in order to better serve the province as a whole. This expansion will create greater access and opportunities for students and resident doctors to learn, train and stay on to practice in communities around BC.
The Faculty is committed to working with the government in supporting the health and human resource requirements needed to improve the health and wellbeing of families and communities across the province. By graduating more doctors, the Faculty will help meet the health care needs of British Columbians today and well into the future.
This is another important step in our vision to transform health for everyone.
When will we know more?
Details on start-up and sustained funding for the expansion are still forthcoming from the BC government.
In the coming weeks, there will be a process to seek input and advice on how to maximize increased supports for physician preceptors and program delivery teams to ensure sustained quality of medical education overall. This will include engagement with the MDUP and its distributed sites, PGME residency programs and UBC departments.
Further, there are a number of UBC activities that will happen in parallel, which include engagement with our faculty leadership and community, partners and key stakeholders, and Faculty and university governance approval processes.
Frequently asked questions
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What is the timeline for expansion?
Pending UBC processes, we are working towards a phased-in expansion beginning in 2023.
UBC processes would include things like engagement with our faculty leadership and community, partners and key stakeholders, and Faculty and university governance approval processes.
How are we able to expand so quickly?
The Faculty of Medicine (the Faculty) has a well-established province-wide, distributed medical education program that was designed for future expansion that can be done in a timely and effective manner while maintaining the excellent quality in education and training. Leveraging this provincial distributed medical education network — and our commitment to regional needs — the proposed new seats will be distributed across the province with a particular focus on the unique health care needs of the population.
None of this is possible without the thousands of outstanding UBC clinical faculty who play a key role every day in training the next generation of doctors while simultaneously delivering exceptional clinical care for their patients. Their efforts are supported by the dedicated program delivery teams that make this all possible.
This includes the partnership and collaboration with the University of Victoria and the University of Northern BC, and all the health authorities in BC.
Many clinical faculty and program delivery teams are already stretched. What additional supports and resources will be available?
The Faculty recognizes how hard everyone is working and the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had.
We have heard you and are listening. The Faculty has advocated strongly to government that a key enabler of expansion is our ability to secure additional resources to increase the supports for physician preceptors and program delivery teams to ensure sustained quality of medical education overall. Details on start-up and sustained support for the expansion are still forthcoming from government.
In the coming weeks, there will be a process to seek input and advice on how to maximize increased supports for physician preceptors and program delivery teams to ensure sustained quality of medical education overall. This will include engagement with the MDUP and its distributed sites, PGME residency programs and UBC departments.
I am a medical student/resident doctor. How does this affect me?
The Faculty will continue to deliver excellent educational and training programs for our medical students and resident doctors.
In fact, this expansion will create greater access and opportunities for medical students and resident doctors to learn, train and stay on to practice in communities around BC. This will in turn help meet the health care needs of families and communities across the province today and well into the future.
How would a new medical school in BC affect expansion?
We anticipate that once the business case is completed and further details are known, we will have a better understanding how the new medical school will add to the Government of BC’s broader strategy towards increasing the supply of new doctors, which is our collective goal.
I have questions regarding this expansion. Who do I contact?
- UBC faculty members or physician preceptors: Please contact your UBC Department Head.
- Medical students in the MDUP: Please contact your Regional Associate Dean.
- Resident doctors in the PGME programs: Please contact your Program Director.
- Staff members of the program delivery teams: Please contact your supervisor.