SAINT JOHN / COMMUNITY INTEGRATED FMEM

Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada and its old-world charm is on display around every corner. Here, uptown delights (that’s how Saint Johners do “downtown”) like great restaurants, theatre, cafes, museums, and shopping, are balanced with opportunities to get closer to nature. The world’s highest tides, courtesy of the Bay of Fundy, are at the city’s doorstep. This once-industrial city is now a thriving smart city, and entrepreneurs and their families are making it home like never before.

  • Strategic location with low cost of living 

  • Minutes to coastal driving, rivers and lakes

  • Fine restaurants and eateries 

  • Live theatre, trade shows, sporting events, and concerts 

  • UNB campus, Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick campus plus bilingual schools

  • Canada Games Stadium, Aquatic Centre and YMCA facility

  • Home of one of Canada’s largest municipal parks – Rockwood Park

135,000

POPULATION

DISCOVER SAINT JOHN

Saint John is a beautiful, historic, and vibrant urban city

Saint John / Community facilities

This is an exciting program designed to better prepare family physicians to provide comprehensive patient care while fulfilling valuable leadership roles. This three-year program addresses the issues of family physicians in smaller communities, who frequently staff emergency rooms, and are therefore required to be highly trained and equipped to deal with patient care situations that their colleagues in larger centres would not encounter.

This three-year integrated CCFP/CCFP(EM) program covers the core competencies currently addressed with the two-year family medicine and the one-year emergency medicine programs 

  • Largest tertiary care hospital in New Brunswick; primary health care referral centre for all New Brunswick for major trauma and cardiac care

  • Access to two emergency communities – locally in Saint John and in rural locations 

  • Primary clinical settings are in Saint John. Whether at our uptown (central) Community Health Centre or in a community family practice, each resident gains exposure to comprehensive family medicine. In a busy, stimulating, environment, residents collaborate with key health care providers to optimize patient care—including nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, dieticians, and occupational therapists. 

  • Rural clinical sites have been established in Upper River Valley and Miracmichi where family physicians provide comprehensive family medicine care and take leadership roles in the delivery of emergency care in rural hospitals

  • The Saint John Regional Hospital houses the Medical Education administration offices and offers a library/study area, computer work area, large resident lounge, numerous teaching rooms, simulation lab and fitness centre on site

Integrated training for physicians who will practice family and emergency medicine concurrently

Salary and benefits

During your residency in Saint John, as with all our residency sites, your salary will be very competitive.

$77,038 – $87,708

PGY1 - PGY3 SALARY AMOUNTS

The curriculum

The core curriculum is based on residents completing both clinical and rotation blocks and integrated longitudinal experience in the various specialties, where competencies will be gained in a progressive nature.

Discussion and feedback will occur between resident and preceptor at each stage using a field note format. Tools such as benchmarking exams, presentations skills assessment, and other methods will be part of program.

During the core family medicine experience, the resident will complete clinical experiences in specialty areas as well, where the resident can apply their specialty based enhanced skills in a thorough and immediate way.

Residents attend both Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine Academic sessions including:

  • Practice based small group learning sessions

  • Family medicine and emergency medicine evidence based medicine rounds

  • Simulation/case based learning modules

  • Core faculty presented seminars

  • Resident presented common problem seminars

  • Exam preparation (written and practical) for both the CFPC Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine certification exams

Clinical experiences

PGY1 ROTATIONS

  • Core family medicine

  • Emergency medicine

  • General medicine

  • General surgery

  • Obstetrics

  • Orthopedics

  • Pediatrics

  • Geriatrics

  • Community family medicine

To cross reference and compare the sites in our program, find more information by clicking below.

PGY2 ROTATIONS

  • Cardiac Care Unit

  • Emergency medicine

  • Longitudinal core family medicine with integrated orthopedics and plastic surgery

  • Palliative care

  • Community family medicine

  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine

  • Elective

PGY3 ROTATIONS

  • Cardiac Care Unit

  • Emergency medicine

  • Family medicine

  • Intensive Care Unit

  • Community family medicine/Emergency medicine

  • Elective

Dr. Hannah Cameron

PGY3

  • I live in the urban core of Saint John.

  • My husband and I bought a house. Luckily for me, Saint John is his hometown, so he had already looked into neighbourhoods and homes.

  • I was attracted to the integration of emergency medicine across three years of residency. I was impressed by the Saint John emergency medicine department's commitment to evidence and continuous quality improvement. I also appreciated that the hospital is a tertiary care centre with only a small number of residents

  • As residents, we almost always work one-on-one with staff. We are treated with respect and have many opportunities to expand our skills.

  • The program leadership is very caring.

  • There is a very active group of family medicine preceptors in Saint John. They get to know all residents, not only the ones in their clinic. The program leaders take interest in each resident and their lives outside of work.

  • Absolutely!

  • Our program is block-based. A typical week would include Monday to Friday in a specialty (e.g. orthopedic surgery, ICU, or obstetrics), plus call, with one half-day in our longitudinal family medicine clinics.

  • I find the balance manageable. The resident community is close and we have lots of social events. Like any residency, it's important to schedule and prioritize activities I enjoy and down time.

  • Our program is very responsive to resident needs and makes accommodations when possible.

  • The population in Saint John includes a large rural area, an urban core with high rates of poverty, and newcomers from all over the world. We are the regional centre for the province in a number of disciplines.

  • All residents complete rural rotations during our program.

  • Come visit! Saint John is charming, the hospital is fantastic, and the people are welcoming.

Sound like a good fit?

If you want to learn more about a residency in the community of Saint John, get in touch. Our Saint John staff would be happy to answer all of your questions.

Site Director, FMEM Program 
Dr. Robin Clouston 
robin.clouston@dal.ca
(506) 654-1093

Associate Resident Co-Leaders
Dr. Hannah Cameron 
hannah.cameron@dal.ca

Site Administrator
Alicia Mason
Fmresidency.saintjohn@dal.ca
(506) 649-2582