Subspecialty Residency Program

Training Requirements

The Adolescent Medicine Subspecialty Residency Program follows the training requirements set by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (RCPSC). 

1. The equivalent of fifteen (15) months of direct clinical experience in core Adolescent Medicine (see Note 1 below)

2. The equivalent of three (3) months of training selected from the following (see Note 2 below):

2.1. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
2.2. Bioethics
2.3. Child protection
2.4. Dermatology
2.5. Education/curriculum development
2.6. Endocrinology
2.7. Gynecology
2.8. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
2.9. Public health and community health sciences
2.10. Sport and exercise medicine
2.11. Other training approved by the program director

3. The equivalent of six (6) months of scholarly inquiry (see Note 3 below)

NOTES:

1. The core Adolescent Medicine experience outlined in section 1 must include general adolescent health, eating disorders, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, substance use and abuse, and chronic conditions. This experience must include inpatient, ambulatory, and community settings, and allow the resident to provide consultation as well as longitudinal care.

2. The selective rotations in section 2 must be aligned with and augment the learning obtained in the core Adolescent Medicine rotations to ensure all objectives of training are met. Rotations will be individualized to the experience and goals of the resident with the approval of the program director and the residency program committee.

3. All residents will participate in at least one project of substantive scholarly exploration and analysis that requires critical thinking, e.g., basic, clinical, or translational research; health services research; quality improvement; bioethics; education; or public policy. Residents must gather and/or analyze data, derive and defend conclusions in the context of what is known or not known about a specific area of inquiry, and disseminate the work in oral or written form. Provision must be made for maintenance of clinical expertise in Adolescent Medicine during this time. *Divided in two and four week increments over the two years, depending on the stage of development of the project and the resident's individual needs. Every effort is made to tailor the resident’s research to their area of interest. Supervision is provided both from within the Division and by mentors from the Children's Hospital Research Institute. Research skills are built through participation in clinical research rounds and the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program Curriculum. We also encourage students interested in a research career to attend the McGill intensive summer semester courses in biostatistics and epidemiology as these are excellent, though we are unable to cover the cost of tuition.

The academic program includes one academic activity per week including:

• General Adolescent Medicine Rounds
• Eating Disorder Academic Half-Day
• Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Rounds
• Sexual Abuse Rounds
• The Center for Excellence in Adolescent Severe Obesity Academic Half Day
• Psychiatric Consultation Rounds
• Journal Club

Residents from around the country meet quarterly by teleconference for joint academic rounds. Our centre also participates in National Adolescent Medicine Grand Rounds which occur quarterly.

Electives

For all elective requests please contact programadmin.adomed [at] mcgill.ca (Angie Bentivegna).

Electives (at McGill University/Glen Site):

1. Adolescent and Adult Eating Disorder Treatment – Douglas Hospital (Sterns Pavilion)
2. Adolescent Psychiatry – Douglas Hospital (Sterns Pavilion)
3. Sports Medicine
4. Dermatology
5. McGill Student Health Services
6. Medical Education (Center for Excellence in Medical Education)
7. Clinical Epidemiology Summer Session (EPIB 600-001)
8. Biostatistics for Health Professionals Summer Session (EPIB 507)

Training Sites

The primary site of clinical training is the Montreal Children’s Hospital: in-patient and emergency care are located in a state-of-the-art health care complex at 1001 Decarie Boulevard, while outpatient care occurs at the satellite clinic located at 1040 Atwater Avenue. Though physically offsite, this is a “hospital-based” tertiary care consultation clinic. This clinic accepts referrals for patients with eating disorders; complex undifferentiated medical complaints; chronic diseases with adherence issues; complex contraception; menstrual disturbances, breast complaints. Our Division has a unique relationship with Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, resulting in a very rich case-mix in that domain.

During outpatient rotations residents will attend two adolescent medicine clinics, in which they will act as the primary consultant, evaluating new consultations and managing them longitudinally. Additionally, they will attend a combination of specialty clinics, community-based clinics, and community based experiences tailored to developing the competencies that the resident is working on at the time of the rotation.

For an overview of hospital-based specialty clinics and community-based youth clinics and experiences please visit the Division of Adolescent Medicine.