New Specialist Residency Spaces

Fifteen new spaces will be added to Dalhousie University’s specialist residency program.

The addition brings the number of provincially funded specialist spaces to 65. Nova Scotia is the only province in the country adding new spaces to its family medicine and specialist residency programs.

“By adding more residency spaces, we are providing more opportunity for specialists in our province,” said Health and Wellness Minister Randy Delorey. “Residents will get the training they need, and Nova Scotians will benefit from their expertise at the same time.”

The new spaces will be added in the following specialties:

• emergency medicine (2 spaces)
• core internal medicine (2 spaces)
• general internal medicine (2 spaces)
• child and adolescent psychiatry (2 spaces)
• neurology (adult)
• obstetrics and gynecology
• critical care
• geriatric psychiatry
• palliative medicine
• ear, nose and throat (head and neck surgery)
• dermatology

“The new residency opportunities will ensure a stable supply of physicians in communities across the province now and in the future,” says Dr. Christine Short, head, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University and chief of medicine, Nova Scotia Health Authority. “We’re delighted to have these new positions where the capacity exists to train the next generation of practising physicians.”

Residents will spend one to five years training in their specialty. They will do rotations in various locations across the province as they complete their residencies.

“This is a very important new development for Dalhousie Medical School and the province of Nova Scotia,” said Dalhousie Medical School dean Dr. David Anderson. “This addition of 15 specialty residency positions is an exciting development we’ve been working to achieve for quite some time. Training these additional physicians in communities across the province will help meet the immediate health-care needs of Nova Scotians.”

Residents with a sub-specialty like neurology or cardiology will be matched with a space in November and start July 1. Residents coming directly out of medical school will be matched in March and start July 1.

Dalhousie Medical School works closely with the Department of Health and Wellness, Nova Scotia Health Authority, and the IWK. Key groups and medical professionals were consulted as part of the work to identify and select areas of need for the new spaces.

Government’s investment in the additional spaces is $1.5 million annually.