The first postgraduate year (PGY1) of training is a broad-based basic clinical training year based upon the requirements of the Royal College, which will provide the resident with broad functional capabilities and enable you to successfully complete the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) Part II.

Currently our PGY1 is comprised of the following rotations:

• General obstetrics and gynecology (3 blocks)
• General surgery (2 blocks)
• Internal medicine (2 blocks)
• Sexual medicine and women’s mental health (1 block)
• Emergency medicine (1 block)
• Intensive care (2 blocks)
• Anesthesia (1 block)
• Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) (1 block)

Recent additions to PGY1 include the surgical foundations boot camp, consisting of two weeks of didactic and hands-on sessions coordinated by the surgical foundations program. A separate OB/GYN boot camp was also added to provide orient residents to the program and common topics on labour and delivery.

The second year of the program (PGY2) consists of rotations in obstetrics and gynecology with the goal of developing core knowledge and skills. During daytime rotations, you will spend time either covering labour and delivery, attending gynecologic procedures in the operating room or attending ambulatory clinics. During overnight call shifts, residents assess and manage patients on labour and delivery, attend any urgent gynecologic surgeries, see patients in the emergency room and respond to calls from the antenatal, postpartum and gynecology wards. The majority of the year is spent within Hamilton but some of the obstetrics rotations take place in neighbouring communities.

Rotations consist of:

• General obstetrics (5 blocks)
• General gynecology (6 blocks)
• Gynecologic oncology (2 blocks)

During these years, you will focus on completion of the subspecialty rotations, elective rotations, surgical rotations and rotations as chief residents in the later part of PGY4 or in PGY5.

Rotations consist of:

• Maternal fetal medicine (3 blocks)
• Prenatal diagnosis clinic (2 weeks)
• Ultrasound (1 block low-risk, 2 weeks high-risk)
• Reproductive endocrinology and infertility (3 blocks)
• Gynecologic oncology (3 blocks)
• Urogynecology (3 blocks)
• Colposcopy (2-3 blocks)
• Laparoscopy (1-2 blocks)
• Senior gynecology (3 blocks)
• Electives (6-9 blocks)
• Chief obstetrics (2-4 blocks)
• Chief gynecology (2-4 blocks)
• Senior rotation (3-4 blocks)

During your residency, you have 6-9 blocks of elective time. There is the opportunity for electives outside of the province, or even outside of the country, as the residents are able to request 3 blocks away from the call schedule. It is expected that during these elective experiences, you will likely be doing call at the elective site to enhance your learning experience.

During your time as chief resident, you will spend time both at McMaster University Medical Centre and St. Joseph’s Hospital. The time is divided approximately equally between obstetrics and gynecology.

As the gynecology chief, you have general charge of the gynecologic wards and operating room and carry out administrative responsibilities relative to other learners in the system. You are responsible for the staffing and conduct of the chief resident clinics, the consulting services including the emergency room, and the gynecologic operating room.

As obstetrics chief, you have general charge of the labour and delivery area, the obstetrical wards and the consulting services in the chief resident clinic. Again, the chief resident is responsible for administrative tasks such as making the on-call schedules, teaching junior learners and delegating roles and responsibilities appropriately amongst the junior learners to ensure all have an excellent educational experience while on the rotation.

Prior to the Royal College exam, the PGY5 residents will be scheduled on a senior rotation during which they will have significantly reduced clinical activity allowing them some preparation time prior to the exam, while also targeting learning opportunities that will be helpful for both exam preparation and transition to practice.