Special Notices: COVID-19 PGME Updates

Latest information on McGill's response to COVID-19

For the latest information on McGill's response to COVID-19, please check the Coronavirus Information website.

Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Foundation Support for Medical Learners Bursary

McGill Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) is pleased to announce that the CMA Foundation has donated a major bursary to PGME: The CMA Foundation COVID-19 Support for Medical Learners Bursary.

Originally established in April 2020 through a gift from the CMA Foundation, the CMA Foundation Support for Medical Learners Bursary was created to support residents with demonstrated financial need at McGill University. Administered by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill University. For more information on how to submit a request please click here.

COVID Testing

Residents are prioritized at COVID testing centers. Residents must show their hospital ID and have a RAMQ Medicare card ready. Non-RAMQ residents must provide their date of birth with their hospital ID:

MUHC: Please call Occupational Health at 514-934-1934 ext. 44FLU (44358). Drive-through testing is available at the RVH parking garage from 10:00 A.M. - 7:30 P.M. (7 days/week). For more information, please visit the following link.
JGH: Please call Health, Safety, and Wellbeing in the Workplace at 514-731-7343 from 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. (7 days/week). Residents who are connected to the JGH Intranet can also visit http://co.intra.mtl.rtss.qc.ca/index.php?id=30592 for more information.

Redeployment – COVID Relief Initiative

Q. Will residents who have already been redeployed during the 2019-20 academic year, be counted as having fulfilled their requirement for the 2020-21 year?

A. No, all residents will be considered when the new academic year starts.

Q. How many days in advance will residents know they are being assigned to COVID relief, and is it possible to request to be assigned during a certain period?

A. The CRIC will strive to inform programs directors and residents of COVID relief assignments as early as possible.

Q. If a total of 10-12 residents will be requested per week, will the CRI be designating how many should be sent by each program every week? How will you ensure that programs contribute equitably to COVID relief assignments?

A. The CRI will designate how many residents will be assigned to COVID relief by each program, each week. We count on the program directors to inform us of the available residents. The rule of proportionality, the program’s size and the resident’s competency will be taken into consideration.

Q. What are the tentative weekly schedules? Can they be organized to solely day shifts or solely night shifts and not a mix of both?

A. COVID relief assignments are full-time, i.e., 5 to 7 workdays per 7 days. The work week runs from Monday to Sunday. If the number of workdays goes beyond 5, the extra days will be considered call. The maximum number of calls per period, as per the FMRQ contract, must be respected. Shifts will include a mix of daytime, evening, and night shifts. The duration of shifts will be between 8 and 12 hours, in accordance with the FMRQ contract.

Q. There are some programs that are smaller than others and require all residents on service to be fully functional, and suffer when a resident takes leave/conference/study time/etc. Will that be taken into consideration?

A. All programs are expected to contribute all available residents to ensure that the burden of caring for COVID-19 patients is equitable and fair. Some programs, given their size, seasonal availabilities, and competences will be asked to provide residents throughout the academic year, others may only be asked to provide residents for part of the year. However, redeployment should be organized in such a way as to match residents’ competencies in order to ensure patient safety. We ask residents to also be mindful about their vacation and leaves requests and to follow the timelines in the FMRQ contract when requesting time off.

Q. What about oncology residents that work with immunocompromised populations. Are we part of the redeployment process?

A. Depending on the evolution of the pandemic, residents potentially excluded from redeployment (depending on COVID-19 care needs) include certain specialities caring for immunocompromised patients. Specifically, residents in hematology and oncology.

Q. Are pregnant residents exempt from COVID relief assignment?

A. Yes. Pregnant resident will not be included in COVID relief assignments.

Q. As part of health human resource planning, are there considerations for how the pandemic may have differential implications on services other than COVID units/ICU wards? For example, anticipated mental health wave and rise in acute psychiatric care seeking.

A. If you are in an ICU rotation, you should not be redeployed.

Q. I believe at this stage COVID relief assignments should be on volunteer basis rather than mandatory. I suggest opening the door to medical students to volunteer.

A. COVID relief assignment is a mandatory experience and shared responsibility between all residents.

Q. Why are some of the major programs getting excluded while small programs with less than 15 residents in total are asked to redeploy their residents?

A. All major programs have been contributing to resident redeployment.

Q. Regarding missed rotations during the pandemic; in the last 3 months, some of us missed time on rotations that may have been mandatory for Royal College requirements. Our program director told us that we did not have to necessarily reschedule them? I’m concerned that this is mainly to ensure coverage of core units, can you confirm that the Royal College allows for flexibility in mandatory rotations that would have been missed due to the pandemic?

A. The Royal College has provided guidelines that give program directors the responsibility to inform if competencies were achieved. You must discuss this with your program director and if there is no agreement, bring it up to PGME.

Q. How will COVID relief assignment affect upcoming Royal College examinations?

A. Depending on the evolution of the pandemic, residents potentially excluded from redeployment (depending on COVID-19 care needs) include residents preparing for their certification exams (this group of residents should not have any COVID-related duties for 2 periods before their exam).

Quarantine – Self Isolation

Q. Can residents travel between regions? For example, can a resident who is based in Gatineau, or Valleyfield, or Chateauguay come to Montreal or travel outside of their region?

A. Residents should not be traveling for personal reasons. If they do, they must follow the recommendations established by the government.

Q. Is there any requirement for residents to self-quarantine when travelling to places like Hull or Amos for their rotation?

A. Residents should contact their program director for specific information.

Residents should consult the COVID-19 : Recommendations to lift isolation measures for health care workers.

75% rule – leaves – vacation

Q. Is the 50% rule still applicable for residents being redeployed?

A. The 50% rule was applied to deal with the pandemic scenario. The 50% rule is no longer valid as of July 1^st 2020.

Q. If a resident was redeployed for a 2-week period, would this resident have to make up for this original rotation since they missed 2 weeks due to redeployment.

A. COVID relief initiative assignments should normally be one week in duration. COVID relief initiative assignments are considered part of the resident’s rotation (not time away); as such, absences must be documented, and the 75% rule of attendance must be respected.

Electives and Rural Rotations

Q. What are the current rules regarding electives?

A. Please consult the elective information here for all residents.

Q. If residents need to self-quarantine when travelling to places like Hull or Amos for their rotation, who can they contact for guidance on where they can self-quarantine?

A. Residents should contact Occupational Health and Safety of the hospital they are going to rotate in.

Evaluations

Q. Do COVID relief assignments have to be evaluated?

A. Yes. Evaluation of all COVID relief assignments is mandatory. Residents are responsible for sending their main supervisor a redeployment assignment assessment form via one45 (self-send via TO DOs). CRI assignment evaluations are considered a contributory assessment to a resident’s scheduled rotation ITER.

Health and Safety

Q. Are resident prioritized for COVID testing?

A. Yes, all staff and residents are prioritized for testing.

Q. What support/resources does CRI provide for residents that get COVID after redeployment, especially considering how health and safety, government, and public health are often providing different information?

A. Residents should follow the guidelines established by your employer, the hospital, through Occupational Health and Safety.

Q. If we get sick from COVID relief assignment and end up missing a mandatory rotation, will that prolong our training?

A. We hope not. It will depend on how long the sick leave will be. Competencies will be looked into more than length of training. The protection and care of resident training will fall under the program director. If it is in your training requirements, and if you have to complete those rotations, the program director will be responsible to not assign residents to COVID relief during these rotations.

Academic Activities

Q. Can I attend my Academic Half Day if I am redeployed?

A. Yes. All residents completing a COVID relief assignment should be liberated for their program's AHD.

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Special Notices: COVID-19 Updates