Universities and their Residency Programs

[Guest MDHopeful04]

I was wondering which universities are well-known for which residency programs. What are their top 3/most well-established programs? E.g., (completely made up example) - McMaster; (1) Family Medicine, (2) Opthamalogy, (3) Dermatology.

 

Would there be any websites that could provide further insight into this?

 

Thanks.

[Guest aneliz]

There are no 'master lists' of this kind of thing... nor do I think that there are really any objective data on it either. Most people in most schools have a (completely based on anecdotal evidence) opinion of what schools are good for what specialties... that said, it tends to vary with each school. For example, someone at Mac may believe that Mac is the best rural family med program... while somebody at MUN believes that THEY have the best rural family med program... and someone at UBC thinks THEY have the best...etc, etc, etc.

 

Most specialists have a good idea of where the 'top' programs in their specialty are...

 

For example: OB/GYN at UWO will tell you that the programs at Dal and UofA are very good... while the program at UofS is less good (lost accreditation)... but I doubt that anyone could tell you what the top three programs at UWO are...they may have an opinion... but there are probably as many opinions on this at UWO alone as there are residency programs.

[Guest MDHopeful04]

Thanks aneliz.

 

I understand that there isn't such a ranking of residency programs, but what I was looking for (with my original post) was to obtain people's opinions regarding the various residency programs at different universities.

 

I can appreciate that everyone will have different opinions, based on numerous factors, but I'm just seeking some feedback, to have an idea of which universities are well-known for what residency programs.

 

Hopefully this will prompt insightful discussions.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

The quality of residency programs in Canada changes a great deal year to year as well. Often times a program that has lost accreditation (or at least come close) will put extra effort and $$ into improving their program, and within a few years turn itself around.

 

It's not unheard of programs that were scraping the bottom of the barrel to turn themselves around and be the best programs around after 4-5 years.

 

A further problem comes in that when you are asking someone about residency programs they are a) probably only really knowledgeable about the one program they went to and basing their opinions on reputations 4-5 years old. . . meaning that by the time you are getting that opinion things might have reversed themselves.

[Guest aneliz]

True enough... and almost every specialty at any school will tell you that they are one of the top three residency programs at that school... ie gen surg at UWO will believe that gen surg is one of UWO's strong points... while someone in internal medicine will believe the same thing about internal...etc, etc, etc.

 

It would be far more productive to pick a specialty and then talk to various people from various schools about their thoughts on which programs in that specialty are the strongest.

[Guest kosmo14]

Aneliz, I am not sure where you get your info. but UofS OBS GYN is fully accredited with no requirement for site survey or anything.

[Guest aneliz]

I got my information from one of the UofS residents at the SOGC conference...something about being cross-accredited with the UofC with mandatory rotations in Calgary?

 

That is the only information I have and I apologise if things have changed... however it is similar to what has been reported to the UWO students by some UWO O&G faculty so I assume that there is at least *some* issue going on... and that's all I know.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Actually, I've found many consultants at UWO very open to stating whether their program is top-notch or not. But you're right, there are a lot that will claim their program is top notch when it might not be.