McMaster Pediatrics Residency Program

Welcome from the Chair of the Department of Pediatrics

The McMaster Pediatrics Residency program is committed to providing the best education possible for our residents with skills in clinical medicine, research and education. Residents graduating from the McMaster program are fully prepared for their ultimate career. The Pediatric Residency Program takes 10 residents per year from various entry points.

The biggest strength of the residency program is the faculty. The Department of Pediatrics at McMaster has a wide variety of expertise. All faculty members regard residency education as a priority and are always available for research and clinical mentorship. The residents recognize the collegiality of the faculty as a major strength of the program.

The McMaster Children’s Hospital serves a population of over 1.5 million people. Residents obtain exposure to a diverse spectrum of disease from common problems encountered in General Pediatrics and from referrals from surrounding communities.

Residents receive an excellent foundation in pediatrics that will prepare them for any career they may eventually choose. The structure of the 4 year program is designed to facilitate graduated responsibility and flexibility in training. After 3 years of training residents will have covered all their core rotations. There is ample time for electives during the first 3 years. The fourth year is a fairly flexible year, allowing residents to prepare themselves for a future career in pediatrics.

A unique undergraduate program a McMaster allows extensive involvement by pediatric residents. Many of our residents teach formal clinical skills to the undergraduate class and are acknowledged by the students as outstanding teachers.

McMaster University is the home of many of the world experts in evidence based medicine. Residents in the training program can expect to receive outstanding formal training and critical appraisal skills through CTU rounds, Academic Half Day, Journal Clubs, subspecialty teaching rounds, and our unique ward teaching schedule. Through their clinical rotations, residents learn to use literature in daily management of patients giving them life long learning skills that will make them better physicians.

There is strong research faculty at McMaster who are committed in promoting research activity of the resident. The residency research committee helps to facilitate the resident research projects and the annual resident research day. There is competitive funding available for resident projects through the Pediatric Residency Program and the Postgraduate Office. There is available protected time for research during the residency program. Funding for conferences is available through the program.

There is a mandatory weekly Academic Half Day. Academic Half Day is protected for time for all residents regardless of the rotation that they are on. There are also numerous teaching rounds including subspecialty teaching rounds, grand rounds, Tuesday/Thursday sessions, and a unique ward teaching schedule. There are two full day retreats per year for our residents.

All residents have two months of elective time in their 2nd and 3rd year. Many of our residents do international electives as well.

There are mandatory community rotations in our program. We feel that it is very important that residents be exposed to general consulting pediatric practice in the community setting. Hamilton has many small communities within an hour of the city allowing for ease of travel. All of the community blocks are funded by MAC care and ROMP.

Our residency program has positions in our northern stream affiliated with NOSM (Northern Ontario School of Medicine), residents in the southern stream have the opportunity to do electives in many northern sites.

Residents play a pivotal role in helping the faculty to continue to improve and vitalize the program. Their opinions are highly valued and we depend on resident involvement to keep the program evolving, and to maintain high moral and pride amongst the residents.

Dr. Lennox Huang
Interim Chair/Chair
Department of Pediatrics

What's New in the Pediatric Residency Program

The Pediatric Residency Program is pleased to welcome to the fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada:

• Ali Al Giraigri
• Colleen Doherty
• Enas El Gouhary
• Trisha Murthy
• Amita Raha
• Janice Tijssen
• Jennifer Twiss
• Nura Hawisa

Congratulations to all on another 100% pass rate!