STANDARD 1: There is an appropriate organizational structure, with leadership and administrative personnel to support the residency program, teachers, and residents effectively

The PHPM Program has a robust leadership and administrative structure that is embedded in a supportive infrastructure provided by the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) and the UBC Faculty of Medicine PGME Program. PHPM activities are led and managed by a 0.5 FTE Program Director and a 1.0 FTE Program Manager, in collaboration with partner clinical faculty. 

The program administrator is embedded into the SPPH education team and school administration team, which provides Ad-hoc  support of approximately a day per week for communications, event-planning, and HR activities. 

Organizational Chart – School of Population and Public Health

Organizational Chart – Education Team, School of Population and Public Health

STANDARD 2: All aspects of the residency program are collaboratively overseen by the program director and the residency program committee

Activities and decisions of the PHPM program are led by a residency program committee and five sub-committees:

1. Wellness Committee
2. Competence Committee
3. Internal Residency Committee
4. Selections Committee
5. Curriculum/Education Design Committee

Program specific policies and processes are accessible to faculty, staff and residents, and they are reviewed regularly.

PHPM Committee Structure

Overview of Program Operations-Governance

STANDARD 3: Residents are prepared for independent practice

The resident learning experience  reflects the RCPSC training requirements. The rotation guide outlines three pathways through the PHPM program: Standard PHPM program, Combined program (combines PHPM with Family Practice), Re-entry program.

The program has:

• Expanded opportunities for public health practice in all 5 regional health authorities throughout all five years of training
• Renewed academic foundations training with a Senate-approved 42-credit PHPM-specific pathway through the Master of Public Health program
• Developed a basic clinical training year pathway that better reflects the required clinical foundations of public health practice
• Designed and implemented a research curriculum
• Created a competency database and workplace-based assessments (WBAs) that provide frequent, low-stakes feedback to residents

A core content and rotation-specific competency map has been implemented, which outlines the various competencies, milestones, and learning activities the residents need to fulfill over the course of their program. This map can be used by the resident and supervisor to identify learning and supervision needs at the beginning of each new rotation. 

Resident Curriculum and Rotation Guide

Resident Assessment Policy

Overview: Educational experience (part 1)

Overview: Educational experience (part 2)

Family Medicine

PHPM is committed to providing PHPM-FM residents with a unique public-health-oriented FM program site in collaboration with one or more current FM sites. This will require development of a curriculum pathway (clinical rotations) in the PGY 2-3 years, as well as related administrative support. In the interim, PHPM has developed two CaRMS pathways with 1.0 FTE PHPM and 1.0 FTE PHPM-FM starting in 2023. These pathways are formalized through a joint policy supporting a combined learning experience that includes expectations and commitments by both programs, an annual memo outlining protected time in both programs for site directors, a summary of program goals and expectations for rotation supervisors and ongoing collaboration by program managers and administrators in both programs.

PHPM Family Medicine

STANDARD 4: The delivery and administration of the residency program are supported by appropriate resources

PHPM residents experience rotations in different regions of BC, providing exposure to rural, suburban and urban populations. Rotations include many opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.

PHPM is well-supported by UBC Faculty of Medicine infrastructure, which provides office space for the program director and administrator, classroom space, technology tools, IT support and library services.

PHPM is well-integrated into the SPPH education structure and residents join a cohort students enrolled in the Master of Public Health program. The education program also provides a Teaching Assistant to support scholarly activities under the guidance of the PHPM Applied Research Advisor.

 Also see Program Organization section.

STANDARD 5: Safety and wellness are promoted throughout the learning environment

The program has implemented additional opportunities for residents to provide feedback and discuss their experience in a safe and open environment. For example, the Chief Resident meets weekly with the Program Director; there is a weekly Huddle with the Program Director, where the residents and Program Director meet to review operational issues and updates; and Internal Residency Committee meetings take place every two months to provide a more formal, lengthier forum for dialogue.

A Resident Wellness Committee has been formalized, which holds responsibility for ensuring residents thrive in a safe and positive learning environment. The committee includes two Faculty Co-Leads and three Faculty Advisors, who are also available to provide confidential wellness support to residents.

 PHPM Wellness Committee Terms of Reference

PHPM Wellness Committee Syllabus

 In Fall 2022, the program organized focus group sessions with junior residents, senior residents and family medicine residents to understand their expectations regarding safe learning environments. Feedback from junior and senior residents was compiled into  “Guidelines for Safe Learning Environments.” 

PHPM Guidelines for Safe Learning Environments

STANDARD 6: Residents are treated fairly and supported adequately throughout their progression through the residency program

In addition to a clear competency map and rotation guide, the program has implemented a new requirement that residents complete self-directed learning activities each year as part of their Academic Half Day curriculum. These activities can be online self-directed learning, reflective practice, or research activities. Residents submit a description of the activity, learning goals and how the activity will inform their practice  Submissions are graded by the Program Director or another faculty member and feedback is provided.  Protected time is available for residents to work on these self-directed learning activities. These self-directed learning activities form a portfolio of the resident’s reflections and learnings.

PHPM Protected Time for Self Directed Learning

 STANDARD 7: Teachers deliver and support all aspects of the residency program effectively

PHPM Supervisor Guide

Overview of Faculty Experience

STANDARD 8: Administrative personnel are valued and supported in the delivery of the residency program

The PHPM Program Manager is a valued member of the SPPH Education Team, which includes administrative staff for six other graduate programs at UBC. The Education Team is supported by a Communications Assistant Worklearn Student, who works with the PHPM manager  several hours weekly.

STANDARD 9: There is continuous improvement of the educational experiences, to improve the residency program and ensure residents are prepared for independent practice

The Residency Program Committee (RPC), in collaboration with the Program Director (PD) oversees all aspects of postgraduate residency training Public Health & Preventative Medicine (PHPM) at UBC. This includes educational design, policy and process development, selection of residents, assessment of resident progress, resident safety and wellness, and continuous quality improvement (CQI).

 RPC Terms of Reference

 The PHPM CQI process is defined in the attached file.

 PHPM CQI Process

 Some ways we review the educational experience are:

We introduced “collector” forms that allow residents to assess multiple teaching faculty during one rotation. This ensures that if the resident works with more than one faculty member during their rotation, all of the faculty members receive an evaluation. With this new process, the program has more opportunities to collect feedback on each faculty member, shortening the length of time it takes to receive enough responses to release feedback directly to faculty.

In Summer 2022, PHPM residents conducted a wellness focus group during their resident retreat. Residents identified 13 recommendations that would impact their wellbeing as residents in the PHPM program. The program responded to each of the recommendations, clarifying how the program has fulfilled or intends to fulfill the recommended actions.

Academic Half Day sessions are evaluated weekly, and twice per year the residents are prompted to provide a summative evaluation of weekly Academic Half Day longitudinal themes (exam prep, research, resident wellness).

Some ways we ensure residents are prepared for independent practice are:

We implemented Workplace Based Assessments. These are low-stakes, high frequency assessments that support supervisors to provide feedback to a resident on a specific project, case, or mock oral exam. Residents are assessed based on an “entrustability score”, which provides reliable assessment of resident performance.

End-of-rotation summative evaluation forms (ITERs) have also been updated to reflect resident performance against rotation specific competencies. Residents are assessed based on their stage of training.