Infectious Diseases

A two-year residency training program in infectious diseases is available at the McGill teaching hospitals and is approved by the Royal College. Applicants should have completed three years of internal medicine or pediatrics. The first year is devoted to clinical infectious diseases on the consultation services of the various hospitals where a total of 2,000 consultations are seen annually. There is close supervision by the attending staff where each consultation is reviewed. Trainees in adult infectious diseases will spend two months on the pediatric service and those training in pediatric infectious diseases will spend two months on the adult service. During the clinical year, there is very close liaison with the diagnostic microbiology, with most staff members also being active in the microbiology department. This gives trainees a particularly strong opportunity to learn the laboratory diagnostic aspects of infectious diseases.

The first half of the second year is spent in various microbiology laboratories learning diagnostic bacteriology, mycology, virology, parasitology and serology. There is also practical training in infection control. The second half of the year can be spent doing more diagnostic microbiology, consultation work or research. During this latter period, residents will be expected to devote at least some of their time to a research project. Research supervisors are available in many areas, with particular strengths in tropical medicine, tuberculosis, HIV disease, public health, epidemiology, and molecular diagnostics. Participation in basic courses offered by the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics is encouraged.

During the two years, trainees are involved in inpatient care and also spend time in the outpatient infectious disease, sexually-transmitted disease, HIV, and tropical medicine clinics.

Trainees will help supervise the training of students and residents doing electives on the infectious diseases service. As well, they will attend (and prepare) infectious diseases rounds, journal clubs, and basic sciences seminars held during weekly academic half-day sessions. In all, the training will allow the trainees to take the exam in internal medicine or pediatrics and take the subspecialty infectious diseases exam offered by the Royal College.

A three-year combined program of Infectious Disease and Medical Microbiology is available which prepares the resident for the subspecialty examinations in Infectious Disease and Medical Microbiology of the Royal College and as well the corresponding specialty examination of the Collège des médecins du Québec.

Entry into the combined program is also allowed after only two years of internal medicine or pediatrics and allows the resident to do the Quebec examination in Microbiology/Infectious Diseases but not the Royal College Infectious Disease examination.

For further information, contact:

Dr D Sheppard, Program Director
Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
T: 514.398.1759
F: 514.398.7052
E-Mail: donald.sheppard@mcgill.ca

rev 07-10