Vancouver

 

We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we provide care is the traditional territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh).

As the founding site of the UBC Emergency Medicine program, Vancouver has had a long-standing reputation for graduating strong, competent and confident residents who go on to excel in Emergency Medicine across Canada.

Program Highlights

  • As Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) is the quaternary referral centre for the province, you will work with physicians from Emergency Medicine and other specialties who are nationwide experts in their field.
  • Dedicated teaching during both Emergency Medicine and off-service rotations from experienced senior residents and supportive staff physicians.
  • Ability to care for and be exposed to complex patients from across the province including the province’s transplant and burns cases.
  • High fidelity in situ simulations every Tuesday in the trauma bay with nurses and allied health care staff.
  • Newly introduced and highly rated coaching program where each resident is paired with a staff physician for five years. This allows for residents to have a mentor who works with them to enhance their academic growth and supports them through the ups and downs of residency.
  • Annual resident retreat, Dr. Brian Chung’s famous barbeques and regular staff-resident get togethers.

Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)

  • VGH is a 900 bed Level 1 Trauma Centre and the province’s Burns and Transplant centre. With a busy Emergency Department that sees more than 100,000 patients per year, the acuity you will see here is unparalleled.
  • Close to one of the city’s busiest streets, Broadway, with its innumerable coffee shops and food choices, VGH is a wonderful place to call home.
  • You will also rotate through BC Children’s Hospital, which is the provincial referral centre for pediatrics.

Sample Schedule

 

Welcome to Vancouver, BC!

Vancouver is a world-class city with something to offer everyone – you can sample any global cuisine your heart desires, purchase artisanal goods from Granville Island, conquer the famous Grouse Grind hike and relax at one of the trendy microbreweries at Olympic Village all in one day!

Economy

Vancouver’s geography is an important force shaping the city’s economy. Owing to its proximity to Asia, as well as its excellent deep-water harbour and transportation infrastructure, Vancouver is Canada’s primary hub for trade with Asia. Major corporations such as Microsoft, IBM and Nintendo maintain offices in Vancouver.

Tourism and conventions contribute substantially to the city’s economy as visitors come to enjoy the city’s beauty and amenities or to use it as a transfer point to nearby destinations such as the resort at Whistler. Along with tourists, filmmakers have been attracted by Vancouver and British Columbia’s natural beauty. Inspired by the adjacent mountains, forests and ocean, Vancouver has a strong active outdoors culture which has produced a small but significant industry producing athletic performance apparel.

Recreation

The Vancouver area offers many opportunities for outdoor recreation, including skiing and year-round boating, golfing and diving. Within the city are more than 200 parks, of which the largest and most important, Stanley Park, has many recreational facilities including an 8.85 km portion of the seawall, a favourite location for walkers and joggers.

Being the third largest city in Canada, you will find spaces to delve into any hobby or passion of your liking whether it’s team sports, pottery, shopping, kickboxing or painting night.

Food & Drink

Vancouverites know their city’s culinary scene. They know where to find the best tower of fresh seafood, the finest house-made charcuterie, the most delicious taco truck, and the best list of B.C. wines. Vancouverites are entirely capable of having a stand-up argument about which sushi restaurant is the best, even if both restaurants are exquisite. The city’s restaurants, wine bars, tasting rooms, cocktail dens, food trucks, farmer’s markets and bakeries are absolutely deserving of this passion. Contact our residents and they will hook you up with the best brewery tour, sushi tasting, or Happy Hour!

Arts & Culture

Vancouver is alive with creativity. We have amazing music, dance, new media, theatre, festivals, film, design, exhibitions, galleries, museums and special events. It’s home to the Vancouver International Film Festival, more than 50 professional theatre companies, and the Rogers Arena and BC Place where large-scale concerts always offer a great show!

Transport

For all the bikers out there – Vancouver is one of the most bike-friendly cities in Canada. And for those who don’t bike, it’s extremely easy to explore the city with its interconnected bus routes, Skytrain and carshare programs.

Weather

Warmed by Pacific Ocean currents and protected by a range of mountains, Vancouver’s weather is mild year-round. From low 20’s Celsius in summer to a mild 0º to 5º Celsius in winter, the climate is always hospitable. Our winters are wet, but it rarely snows, except on our local ski hills. What a dream!

Diversity

Vancouver believes that its diversity, be it gender identity, abilities, race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, culture or ethnicity, helps to create a rich and vibrant community in which all individuals live in mutual respect, dignity and harmony.

This is reflected in the values of our RCPSC-EM program and our clinical work at Vancouver General Hospital through the diverse population that we serve. This diversity offers a cultural richness and a sense of inclusivity unique to Vancouver.

The UBC residency program is a unique program with absolutely wonderful residents and faculty.  I love coming to work and knowing that I’ll be surrounded by supportive, energetic, and brilliant people.  The one thing that makes my day is when I show up for work and there is one of our residents working with me – I know that it’s going to be a good shift no matter how difficult the patients are.”Dr. Tina Yokota 


“As an attending Emergency Physician at Vancouver General Hospital, one of the things I love most about my job is working with the outstanding group of resident physicians we have at UBC.They are a diverse, accomplished group who continually push me to learn and improve my own clinical practice.As a resident I benefited tremendously from the collegial, collaborative, and patient-care focused learning environment at VGH, and as an attending my goal is to continue to foster this learning environment.Dr. Emerson Genuis 


“I graduated from the UBC emergency medicine program with such appreciation not only for an excellent education but for the family feel and supportive environment. The program provides both training and mentorship and I knew as staff I would want to be involved in such a legacy. Residency is hard, but I think having staff invested not only in your education but also your wellbeing makes a difference.”Dr. Kaitlin Lee 


“I love working at VGH because we have a particularly collegial group and in fact I think the best relationship with our nursing colleagues and other allied health staff that I have ever seen. I particularly love working with our residents; they are so smart, hard working and fun.  It’s amazing and incredibly rewarding watching them grow each year and I feel really lucky to be a part of it.”Dr. Kelsey Innes 

Adam Arthurs, Vancouver Site

Did he drive from Northern Ontario, or did he actually trail run to Vancouver? We will never know. What we do know is Adam grew up in North Bay, ON and finished an undergrad in Bio-medical science at the University of Guelph. Moving back North for medical school at NOSM, Adam’s constant search for endorphins […]

Aidan McParland, Vancouver Site

This Brockville (aka Brock Vegas) import brought a whole new level of stoke to the VGH ED. Joining us from Toronto, this committed carnivore is adjusting to all the plant-based foods in his new home. He moved to Vancouver to take the first step in his lifelong dream…. of becoming a boat captain. He’s always […]

Amanda Mills, Vancouver Site

Amanda, our aquatic aficionado, is practically part fish. When she’s not making a splash in the Emergency Department, you can find her beach combing, camera in hand, capturing moments through the lens of her trusty Minolta. But Amanda’s hobbies don’t stop there. She’s a triathlon enthusiast, proving that she can conquer both land and sea. […]

Amy Dhillon, Vancouver Site

Born and raised in a far away land called Surrey, Amy brings a unique blend of wit and dedication to the world of Emergency Medicine. While she might be mistaken for a high school student at BC Children’s, make no mistake; she’s a rising star in the medical field. She’s the spin class guru, rallying […]

Andrew Chang, Vancouver Site

Andrew hails from “far away” Coquitlam, BC, where he grew up with the dream of moving to the big city. From SFU for undergrad, he made it to Vancouver for med school and residency, all before taking his training wheels off. He may be our youngest R1, but he knows what he wants. He was […]

Brendan Lee, Vancouver Site

Brendan is the only flat-lander to make his way to the VGH crew all the way from Saskatchewan. As a born and bred prairie boy, he is enjoying experiencing a new province and taking advantage of all that beautiful B.C. has to offer. Although he drinks cool local craft beer while he is out with […]

Bronwyn Delacruz, Vancouver Site

Introducing Bronwyn, a Wild West spirit, hailing from the heart of Grande Prairie Alberta. She’s our very own horse whisperer, often spotted turning barrels or trotting trails with her four-hooved friends. Her knack for detecting an S4 gallop on precordial exam is second to none, thanks to that horse girl intuition. Bronwyn loves a good […]

Chelsey Ju, Vancouver Site

Chelsey was born and raised in Toronto where she first started turning heads as a pediatric figure skater in Degrassi alongside her co-star, Drake. Now, she’s better known as “DJ penichillin” after her years in Montreal. When she’s not turning up pressor drips in the ED, you can find her producing music that’s almost as […]

Christina Botros, Vancouver Site

Christina hails from the far-away town of Langley, BC. She grew up as a classically trained competitive dancer, but now can commonly be found tearing up the dance floor at any and every event. Christina’s also a self-proclaimed coffee snob, but on-call she’ll drink whatever Java bean juice she can find and will only complain […]

Claire Ronsley, Vancouver Site

Though Claire would tell you she chose Emerg late in the game, with her numerous visits to the ER, we knew it was never in doubt. Hailing from the North Shore, you’ll either find her with a rose crown at Shambhala or wearing three layers of Patagucci in Squamish. She has a passion for Addictions, […]

Daniel Shi, Vancouver Site

Daniel hails from the far-away land of Brampton, Ontario. He grew up playing chess, video games, cards, and pretty much any other type of game you can think of. After completing medical school at Queen’s, he was thrilled to make the move out west for EM. While on call, you can find Daniel trying to […]

Danny Jomaa, Vancouver Site

Meet Danny Friday, the man of many talents and even more degrees! With not one, but two master’s degrees under his belt, Danny’s brain could power an entire hospital. But what truly sets him apart is his ability to deliver a three-minute thesis on the ever-elusive lexicon of today’s youth, and trust us, it’s a […]

Devon Mitchell, Vancouver Site

Born and raised in the cosmopolitan metropolis of Langley, BC, Devon is our program’s UBC lifer, spending undergrad, med school and now residency in beautiful Vancouver. His two passions in life are prosecco and policy, and we’ve already started our five-year plan to convince Parliament to move out West so we can keep him. While […]

Dylan Collins, Vancouver Site

A retired competitive Alpaca handler, Dylan brings many valuable skills to the Emergency Department. After he left the Petri dishes of UVic’s biochemistry labs behind, his interest in clinical epidemiology took him to Oxford University where he split his time between rowing, pub crawling, and researching primary health care systems. Now a certified double-doctor, Dylan […]

Francesca Bell Peters, Vancouver Site

Francesca grew up on beautiful Gabriola Island, trail running, cliff jumping, and getting sea-sick on the ferry to school every day. After completing her degree in Biochemistry at UVIC, she spent two years working with children on the Autism Spectrum. She was excited to move to Vancouver for medical school, and was quickly hooked on […]

Hanna Parmar, Vancouver Site

Hanna joins an elite crew of UBC lifers, having completed her undergraduate and medical degrees in Vancouver before joining the Vancouver emergency medicine residency program. She is drawn to the acuity, diversity and procedural components of emergency medicine, and has a particular interest in point-of-care ultrasound. As a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and […]

Hélène Morakis, Vancouver Site

Growing up in the prairies, Helene dreamt of finding mountains and coasts. She first sought out the shores of Lake Ontario for medical school – the proud Queen’s alum will talk your ear off about the incredible community she found there and the nearby Adirondack mountain range. Now that she’s finally made it to BC, […]

Kelly Huang, Vancouver Site

When Kelly isn’t fussing over us like a mother hen, she’s collecting blackmail material on us all with her daily videos as an up-and-coming movie maker. We suspect she’s scheming to resurrect the TV show, Life and Death at VGH. We’ll forgive her when she’s rich and famous because she will probably still host turkey […]

Kia Dullemond, Vancouver Site

Kia always has his finger on the pulse of all things cool in this city. You can find this renaissance man hiding at Elysian, just trying to catch a break from the YVR resident girl talk. Kia is known for his great hugs and better conversation. He’s sweet as pie and never flustered. But don’t […]

Kiran Grant, Vancouver Site

Kiran grew up in Calgary playing any and all sports at a largely mediocre level. After an undergrad in his hometown and stints working in management consulting and government, Kiran headed east for medical school in Toronto. While his first exposure to emergency medicine was when we took hockey puck to the forehead at age […]

Kiran Rikhraj, Vancouver Site

Our transplant from tropical Singapore, this cold-averse chicka was once torn between wanting to catch babies, fix bones and figure out the cause of someone’s hyponatremia before discovering that Emergency Medicine would allow her to do all those things at once. She has been described as an energizer bunny but only during the daylight hours […]

Meg Singh, Vancouver Site

Meg, if that’s even her real name, lived in five countries before she started university at McGill for undergrad. Now that she’s lived in both Ottawa and Kingston, this proud Ontarian is able to name a grand total of two cities in her home province. With parents in the diplomatic service, we’re not sure if […]

Morgan Haines, Vancouver Site

Found beside a hiking trail in North Vancouver, baby Morgan lived a simple life until he was “discovered” by a talent agent in a coffee shop and offered a starring role in the critically acclaimed film, Look Who’s Talking Now, alongside John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. As fate would have it, mama Haines turned down […]

Remi Kandal, Vancouver Site

Remi, our resident with a flair for the unexpected! When she invited us to go kiting, we thought we’d be struggling with a kite in a park. But no, she plans to take us on an adrenaline-packed kiteboarding ocean adventure, riding waves like a pro. Who knew we’d need wetsuits for a kite outing? Remi’s […]

Tracy Huynh, Vancouver Site

Tracy was born and raised in the beautiful city of Surrey, BC. She went to Simon Fraser University and never finished her degree in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry because she did too many co-op terms and the courses were too detail-heavy for her tiny brain. She did, however, start a hiking club at SFU after […]

Trisha Kandiah, Vancouver Site

Having lived in Ontario her whole life, Trisha was excited to make the drive from her hometown Ottawa all the way to Vancouver in order to work alongside the amazing people in beautiful British Columbia! When she is not in the hospital you can find her either playing basketball at Kitsilano Beach, singing at home, […]

Victoria Forcina, Vancouver Site

Victoria is from Toronto, Ontario but made the big move to BC for EM and wouldn’t have it any other way. Shocked by the flashing green traffic lights and “hikes” that are purely uphill, Victoria is slowly getting accustomed to her new surroundings and learning the ways of the laid-back west coasters. Considering a “late night” […]

Xin Mei Liu, Vancouver Site

The resident with the most Air Miles under her belt proves that residency ain’t no match for her. Catch this badass zooming (tumbling) down the streets on her customized electric board or dragging a small cart of freshly baked Montreal bagels to academic day. Despite travelling the world to teach POCUS skills to physicians and […]

Electives

Vancouver General Hospital 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. Additional learning opportunities may include weekly academic days with the residents, monthly journal clubs, weekly grand rounds, and simulation sessions.

If you were unable to get an elective at VGH 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.

UBC Students

Applications for electives are submitted online via the One45 system. There are deadline application dates for each elective block, which must be approved by the elective organizer for successful placement.

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.

Associate Program Director – Vancouver Site
Dr. Tina Yokota

tina.yokota@ubc.ca 


For general inquiries, please contact our program admin:

Casandra Avanzado, Vancouver Program Coordinator
em.vancouver@ubc.ca


For undergraduate or medical student inquiries, please contact:

Dr. Daniel Ting
k.daniel.ting@gmail.com


Interested in speaking to one of our Vancouver residents? Please contact:

vghemres@gmail.com

Connect with our Vancouver Residents!

  @ubcvanem

  @EMResUBC