Electives

There is one block of elective time in the PGY2 year and a total of twelve blocks of elective time in the PGY3 through PGY5 years. These twelve blocks of electives generally are taken toward the end of the residency, however the program allows the flexibility to insert elective time at any point in the PGY3 to PGY5 years. These electives have been used for a variety of purposes, both to round out education and enhance areas of interest or weakness. Some examples of popular electives are as follows:

Toxicology

This elective allows the resident to get concurrent experience in Clinical Toxicology at either the Poison Control Centre at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and/or NYU Bellevue Hospital in New York City. In Toronto, the resident on-call will take calls from Poison Control nurses, and direct the management of toxicologic cases that come through this large Poison Control Centre. The resident is backed up by a board-certified medical toxicologist to discuss cases as they come in. In addition, the resident attends weekly rounds at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, and is occasionally responsible for a case presentation and discussion.

The elective in New York City provides residents the opportunity to receive teaching from one of the most established Clinical Toxicology centres in North America. Responsibilities include daily attendance at emergency morning rounds at Bellevue Hospital, followed by call-backs and teaching at the New York City Poison Control Centre.

Trauma

An elective experience has been negotiated with Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. During this one or two month elective, the resident acts as a member of the Trauma Team in the Princess of Wales Trauma Unit. The hospital is a teaching hospital Level 1 (equivalent) trauma centre for the northern suburbs or the Western Cape. It is a trauma only emergency unit, separate from other other hospital emergency units. Here, the resident sees a wide variety of penetrating trauma at one of the world's busiest trauma centres. This popular elective allows residents exposure to a high volume of trauma not normally seen in Canadian centres. Residents are eligible to receive support for travel and accommodation from the program for this elective. Trauma electives in other cities in Canada and the United States are available.

Miscellaneous Electives

Residents are encouraged to use elective time towards areas of interest. Residents looking to pursue further training in subspecialty areas of emergency medicine are encouraged to try and incorporate some of their subspecialty training into their elective time. Residents in the past have used this time toward certification in critical care, sports medicine, EMS, ultrasound and advanced degrees in medical education, clinical epidemiology, tropical medicine and health administration. Other opportunities exist and are generally supported by the program committee

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