Enhanced Skills

Optional Third Year Opportunities

For trainees who have completed the two-year program in family medicine, there are a number of positions available which provide up to twelve months of extra training for those wishing additional preparation for practice. This would most frequently involve additional skills training in anesthesia, addiction medicine, emergency medicine, etc., but may involve any discipline relevant to Family practice.

Programs Currently Available

Category 1 Programs

Category 1 Programs with nationally standardized curricula. At the University of Alberta these currently include:

• Addiction Medicine (12 month program)

• CFPC Emergency Medicine (12 month program)

• Care of the Elderly (6 or 12 month programs)

• Family Practice-Anesthesiology (FP-A) (12 month program)

• Palliative Care (12 month program)

• Sport and Exercise Medicine (12 month program)

Category 2 Program

Our Occupational Medicine (6 month program) falls under Category 2 which is a local, university-based, and domain-specific competencies program, under the Department of Family Medicine.

Certificate of Added Competence

Starting in 2015, family physicians who complete additional training in an enhanced skills PGY-3 residency training program will be eligible to receive a Certificate of Added Competency (CAC). Currently, CACs are only available for the following domains of care:

• Addiction Medicine

• Care of the Elderly

• Emergency Medicine

• Family Practice Anesthesia

• Palliative Care

• Sport and Exercise Medicine