Grande Prairie distributed site
The city of Grande Prairie is home base for our residency program. Located about 450 km northwest of Edmonton, with a population of about 70,000 people, Grande Prairie is the economic hub of the “Peace Country”. The Grande Prairie hospital is a regional referral centre with a catchment area of approximately 300,000, and offers most specialty services. Family physicians in Grande Prairie provide a substantial amount of inpatient care, as well as care within the Emergency Department. Royal College specialists often perform a traditional “consultant” role. The practice of medicine in Grande Prairie offers an example of efficient and effective coordination of care between family physicians and their specialist colleagues. With regard to life outside of medicine, the City of Grande Prairie is large enough to offer an extremely wide array of amenities, while still maintaining its small-town feel. It offers a great variety of recreational and leisure pursuits, (including sports, music, and theatre) in addition to a wide range of shopping and dining options. Some Grande Prairie highlights include the Wapiti Nordic Ski Area, the Bear Creek Folk Music Festival, and the Eastlink Centre recreational complex. In addition, Grande Prairie offers easy access to the beauty and recreational opportunities found in nearby mountain wilderness areas.
Rural sites are specifically chosen for the quality of learning opportunities available. These sites are generally medium-sized communities with active surgical and obstetrical programs in addition to a high-volume emergency department.
PGY1: The first year of our program includes a mix of hospital based specialty rotations and an extended rural family medicine block. Clinical services are not dependent on the presence of house staff, on-call is often from home and learning experiences are focused on education more than service. Early in their residency training, each R1 will spend a 4-week block in their “home” family medicine clinic, working with a full-service family physician from Grande Prairie or one of its neighboring communities. The preceptor for this rotation will become the resident’s Faculty Advisor / mentor for the remainder of the resident’s training. Throughout their R1 year, the resident will return to their home clinic on a regular basis to maintain continuity in family medicine. PGY1 also includes a 16-week block of rural family medicine, in a community of the resident’s choice. This block will contain an integrated program in Care of the Elderly.
PGY2: There are further specialty rotations in second year but the main thrust of PGY2 is to develop the resident as a rural family physician, building on the knowledge skills and attitudes acquired in the first year. These rotations provide further opportunities to experience comprehensive medicine and continuity of care in a rural setting.
Grande Prairie Rotation Structure
| PGY 1 ROTATIONS | PGY 2 ROTATIONS |
| 4 wks Anesthesia | 8 wks Electives |
| 4 wks Electives | 8 wks Emergency Medicine |
| 4 wks General Surgery | 8 wks Internal Medicine |
| 8 wks Obstetrics & Gynecology | 1 wk Integrated Palliative Care |
| 4 wks Orthopedics | 4 wks Psychiatry |
| 4 wks Pediatrics | 8 wks Rural Family Medicine |
| 4 wks Pediatric Emergency | 16 wks Rural Family Medicine |
| 4 wks Regional Family Medicine | |
| 16 wks Rural Family Medicine |