We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we provide care and learn is the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, on whose unceded ancestral lands, the city of Prince George was built.
As a training site of the UBC Emergency Medicine program, the Prince George campus provides residents with exceptional opportunities to develop strong clinical skills while serving the diverse communities of Northern British Columbia. With a focus on rural, regional, and Indigenous health, Prince George has earned a reputation for fostering capable, resilient, and compassionate emergency physicians.
Program Highlights
- Training based at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia, the major regional referral centre for Northern BC
- Exposure to trauma, critical care, rural and remote medicine, and a diverse range of emergency pathology, including patients with high medical complexity and disease burden.
- Local access to pre-hospital and transport medicine with both ground and air experiences available
- Flexible training opportunities to train across BC, including access to ICU, Trauma, Stroke neurology, and PEM at other sites and up to 2-3 blocks per year of accommodation and travel covered for these experiences.
- Hands-on clinical experience with early procedural autonomy and close faculty mentorship
- Smaller resident cohort sizes that allow residents to be well known by faculty and support a collaborative, mentorship-focused training environment.
- Access to the state-of-the-art Learning and Development Centre developed in partnership with Northern Health, the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, and University of Northern British Columbia
- Modern educational facilities, including simulation labs, seminar rooms, videoconferencing suites, collaborative learning spaces, and dedicated research areas
- Integrated learning environment alongside medical students, visiting residents, and allied health trainees within UBC’s Northern Medical Program
- Opportunities for interdisciplinary education, leadership development, teaching, and clinical research
- Full connection to UBC’s distributed academic network, including provincial teaching sessions, simulation curriculum, and elective opportunities across British Columbia
- Unique northern training experience that prepares residents for practice in both regional referral centres and rural or underserved communities.
University Hospital of Northern British Columbia
The University Hospital of Northern British Columbia is the major tertiary referral and trauma centre for Northern BC, serving a large geographic region that includes rural, remote, and Indigenous communities across the province’s north.
The Emergency Department sees approximately 50,000+ patient visits annually and provides residents with broad exposure to high-acuity emergency medicine, trauma, critical care, toxicology, and complex medical pathology. UHNBC is a Level III Trauma Centre with strong collaboration between Emergency Medicine, General Surgery, Anesthesia, ICU, Internal Medicine, and specialty services. As the primary referral centre for Northern BC, residents gain extensive experience managing critically ill and medically complex patients, coordinating interfacility transfers from rural and remote communities, and exposure to resource-variable practice environments that helps build clinical autonomy and procedural confidence early in training.
The hospital is also home to UBC’s Northern Medical Program and the Learning and Development Centre, which includes simulation labs, seminar rooms, and collaborative academic spaces that support interdisciplinary education, research, and resident teaching. The faculty have diverse interests outside of emergency medicine, including addictions medicine, prehospital and transport medicine, military medicine, sports medicine, wilderness medicine, primary care, medical education, and more.
Sample Schedule
Your residency is flexible and designed to balance program requirements with your goals. We follow the progression laid out by the Royal College CBME program.
The majority of your rotations will be based out of UHNBC. There is a lot of flexibility within our program. And our aim is to tailor your training to optimize the experiences that you want.
PGY-1; Transition to Discipline and Foundations
Emergency Medicine (incl PEM): 6 blocks
Emergency Ultrasound: 1 block
Anesthesia: 1 block
ICU: 1 block
Trauma: 1 block
Obstetrics / Gynecology: 1 block
General Surgery: 1 block
Internal Medicine CTU: 1 block
PGY 2 to 4: Core of Discipline: This stage is flexible depending on your learning/career goals.
Emergency Medicine, including community EM: approximately 17 blocks
Pediatric ICU (BCCH): 1 block
Longitudinal Trauma Team Leader experiences
Pediatric EM: approximately 4 blocks
Research Methodology (NERD): 1 block
Pre-Hospital Care: 1 block
Cardiology / CCU: 1-2 blocks
Neurology / Stroke: 1 block
Orthopedics: 1 block
Senior ICU (VGH): 2 blocks
Toxicology: 1 block
*Ample time for electives…
The options for electives are endless. Electives available in; addictions, palliative care, sports medicine, wilderness medicine, hyperbarics, difficult airway, community EM, trauma, toxicology and many more.
PGY 5: Transition to Practice
Residents must complete an ACE (area of concentrated expertise), which should be at least 6 months, but may be longer. PGY-5 residents typically split their “ACE” time with blocks in EM and Pediatric EM.
As a PGY-5 resident, you will receive targeted teaching to help you transition to independent practice as an emergency specialist. You will also be expected to take on a greater role in teaching, both at the bedside, in the classroom and in simulation.
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Prince George Residents (needs to be linked with email address) »
BIG CITY AMENITIES WITHOUT BIG CITY CONGESTION
The UHNBC emergency department manages high-acuity, high-volume care, while offering a lifestyle to residents that’s hard to match anywhere else. You get meaningful clinical work, ultimate flexibility, and immediate access to both city amenities (Costco!) and world-class outdoor recreation.
Recreation
Located in Northern British Columbia, Prince George offers a unique balance between rigorous clinical training and accessible outdoor recreation. With trails, lakes, ski areas, and mountain terrain close to the city, residents can easily integrate running, biking, hiking, skiing, paddling, and other outdoor pursuits into day-to-day life during training. This is the ideal environment for residents who value wellness and work-life balance during training.
Three mountain biking trail networks in town.
Hiking trails that lead to high peaks, ridgelines, alpine lakes, backcountry huts and even 1500+ year-old cedar trees
5 golf courses in town
More than a dozen fishing lakes close to town
Central location in BC perfect for summer roadtrips
Skiing
Prince George is home to a strong winter sports community, with easy access to cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and snowboarding, and snowshoeing. World-class cross country skiing at Caledonia Nordic Ski club that is 10 minutes from town. There are 6 ski hills within a 2-hour drive. Nearby ski areas such as Purden Ski Village (only a 40min drive) or Powder King Mountain Resort (2 hours) offer residents the opportunity to enjoy weekend skiing while training in one of Canada’s busiest northern referral centres. For those that are interested there is also fantastic backcountry skiing in the nearby Northern Rockies and Cariboo mountains including several backcountry huts.
Diversity
As the major healthcare and service hub for Northern BC, Prince George serves a broad and diverse population, including rural, remote, and Indigenous communities from across the region. Training at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia exposes residents to a wide spectrum of pathology, cultural perspectives, and healthcare challenges that help foster adaptability, leadership, and culturally informed emergency medicine practice.
Arts and Culture
While more modest than larger urban centres, Prince George offers a welcoming local culture with independent cafés, breweries, live music, and community events that contribute to a strong sense of connection during residency. Annual events such as the ColdSnap Music Festival bring live music and cultural programming to the city each winter, while local venues including Two Rivers Gallery, the Omineca Arts Centre, and the Prince George Playhouse showcase visual arts, theatre, and community performances throughout the year. Downtown cafés, breweries, and gathering spaces such as Nancy O’s contribute to a strong local culture and sense of community for residents living and training in Northern BC.
Come and join our already tight-knit group of nurses and physicians
We are excited to welcome the first cohort of EM residents to Northern Health in 2027
Your photo can be here!
Electives
University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (UHNBC) offers a 4 week elective for medical students that provide the opportunity to gain exposure and competence in managing a wide variety of clinical presentations in a busy emergency department. Students will work one-on-one with enthusiastic physicians who establish an exceptional learning environment and provide an appropriate level of independence. Students will have the opportunity to participate in emergency procedures such as suturing, orthopedic reductions, casting, intubation, central lines, chest tube placement and trauma management.
If you were unable to get an elective at UBC and are interested in our program, we are happy for you to contact us to hear more about the program/set up a shadow shift.
For junior medical students, you may contact us directly to arrange a few shadow shifts.
Visiting Students
Applications for electives are submitted online via the AFMC Portal.
The first come, first serve principle applies for UBC electives. Applicants are encouraged to apply and pay as close to the 7 month mark as possible. Note that while you may complete the application process early, the placement process may start several months later, as this is dependent on the UBC student schedule.
Provincial Program Director
Dr. Tina Yokota
tina.yokota@ubc.ca
For general inquiries, please contact our program admin:
Mira Pandya, Residency Program Manager
em.residencymanager@ubc.ca
Siti Abdullah, Provincial (Overall) Program Coordinator
emergency.residency@ubc.ca
