Pediatric
Respiratory Medicine

Subspecialty Residency Program

The Respiratory Medicine Subspecialty Residency Program is a two year clinical training program geared toward preparing the candidate for an academic career in Pediatric Respiratory Medicine. The program offers an exciting and varied clinical experience and there are many options for research endeavors. Our program is accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

We provide a varied clinical experience through a busy inpatient consultation service including consultation on the general pediatric wards, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

In addition, we have an extensive ambulatory care service including general respirology clinics. The trainee will also be involved in a multitude of specialty clinics including Tuberculosis Clinic, Asthma clinic (both tertiary and in the community), Infant respiratory/home monitoring clinic, Apnea Evaluation/CPAP Clinic , Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) clinic (pediatric and adult), and a Subspecialty Resident (previously referred to as Fellow) Continuity clinic. In addition, we have many multidisciplinary clinics in which the respirologist plays a pivotal role, including Cystic Fibrosis Clinic, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) and Home Oxygen Clinic, Neuromuscular Clinic, Chronic Home Ventilation Clinic (including patients with invasive ventilation via tracheostomy and non-invasive ventilation such as BPAP), Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) clinic, Esophageal Atresia-Tracheoesophageal Fistula (EA-TEF) Clinic, and Sickle Cell Disease clinic. Individual members of our staff are also involved in the Craniofacial and Cleft Surgery team and in the care of adult lung transplant patients.

Flexible bronchoscopy is an active service in the operating room, as well as the NICU and PICU. Trainees will have the opportunity to perform both elective and urgent flexible bronchoscopies and often collaborate with our colleagues in Otolaryngology and Gastroenterology to perform “triple scope” procedures. We perform flexible bronchoscopy for a wide range of pulmonary and airway problems.

Program length: 2 years
Average number of trainees per year: 1-3

Training Requirements

The Pediatric Respiratory Medicine Subspecialty Residency Program follows the training requirements set by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (RCPSC). The Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada’s Pediatric Respirology Specialty has launched its Competency by Design (CBD) training in July 2021. This program consists of four stages of training including transition to discipline, foundations, core, and transition to practice. Generally, these stages will span over 24 months. An approximate breakdown of rotations appears in the table below.

Year 1

Weeks
Ambulatory Respiratory Clinics
Inpatient Consultation Service
Pulmonary Function Lab
Elective
NICU

16
16
4
12
3

Year 2 Weeks
Ambulatory Respiratory Clinics
Inpatient Consultation Service
Elective
PICU
Sleep Medicine
Allergy-Immunology
12
12
16
4
4
4

Residents planning on pursuing an academic career are encouraged to use a portion of their elective time for research. Clinical electives are also available in Adult Respirology, ENT, Infectious Disease, Cardiology, Research, Pathology and/or can be organized around the trainees' goals.

There is ongoing exposure to the Pulmonary Function Laboratory, including our exercise laboratory performing stage 1 cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Our lab also includes measurements of Nasal Nitric Oxide (Nasal NO) and hypoxic challenge testing. Trainees will be involved in the interpretation of overnight oximetries and cardiorespiratory monitor recordings done on the inpatient service. There is also the opportunity to become involved with oximetry interpretations done in community hospitals via our provincial outreach program.

The trainee will have ongoing exposure to Sleep Medicine via our sleep laboratory throughout their training in addition to during their sleep rotation.

Other outreach opportunities for our trainees includes exposure to our northern medicine program where we provide respiratory consultation services for the northern Quebec communities via telemedicine and in person at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

Residents are encouraged to identify a scholarly project that aligns with their interests. Residents who are planning an academic career and/or who are likely to pursue further research training are encouraged to use their electives for research and have further opportunity for research during their clinical time. There are many clinical and basic science/bench research opportunities within our division.

The research facilities of the Montreal Children's Hospital/McGill University Health Center encompass the state of the art Research Institute including the Meakins-Christie Laboratory. In addition to these basic science research facilities, the McConnell Center for Innovative Medicine (CIM) provides access to a large range of clinical research services dedicated to clinical research.

As a support to the resident we provide registration, travel and accommodations to 1-2 major North American conference for each trainee once per year as well as additional conferences residents are presenting at. Registration is also provided for a flexible bronchoscopy course (once per trainee career).

Educational Opportunities

Weekly rounds and teaching

The resident will have a plethora of varied teaching and learning opportunities

  • Weekly (Thursdays, 9:00-11:00 a.m.) Division of Respiratory Medicine Rounds, which are divided between case discussions of active and interesting cases in the division and a scholarly activity (rotates between invited speakers, resident presentations, journal clubs, Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) rounds and research presentations).
  • Weekly (Fridays, 8:00-9:00 a.m.) respiratory physiology teaching curriculum
  • Weekly (Thursday, 8:00-9:00 a.m.) respiratory medicine teaching curriculum systematically covers royal college medical expert objectives including review of major respirology textbook chapters.
  • Trainees are also encouraged to attend the academic teaching for the Allergy-Immunology Training Program when topics are relevant to the respirology trainee.
  • Subspecialty resident CanMeds rounds every one to two months cover the non-medical expert aspects of CanMeds.
  • A clinical epidemiology program developed for advanced pediatric and subspecialty trainees at the Montreal Children's Hospital, occurs monthly and includes research and epidemiology teaching sessions. (Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program)
  • Residents will also have the opportunity to participate in SIM training sessions such as bronchoscopy, communication or breaking bad news either on site at the Montreal Children’s Hospital or at the McGIll University Steinberg Center for Simulation and Interactive Learning.

Training Sites

The primary training site is the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

Contact Information

For Subspecialty Respiratory Medicine Residents:

Residency Program Coordinator: programadmin.pedsresp [at] mcgill.ca
Program Directors/Rotation Coordinators: Drs. Lianne Kopel and Anne-Marie Canakis

For Medical Student and General Pediatrics Residents:

Administrative Assistant: therese.caissie [at] muhc.mcgill.ca (Therese Caissie)
Rotation Coordinator: Dr. Adam Shapiro

Contact Us

Division Director

Dr. Larry Lands

Postgraduate Medical Education

Subspecialty Residency Program Co-Directors
Dr. Anne-Marie Canakis 
Dr. Kimberley Kaspy (interim)
Dr. Lianne Kopel (on leave until Feb 2024)

Pediatric Respirology Research Fellowship Program Director
Dr. Larry Lands

Administrative Staff

Residency Program Coordinator
programadmin.pedsresp [at] mcgill.ca

 

For Medical Student and General Pediatrics Residents:

Administrative Assistant: therese.caissie [at] muhc.mcgill.ca (Therese Caissie)
Rotation Coordinator: Dr. Adam Shapiro

Back to top