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Selection Criteria

Candidates should demonstrate strong academic achievements and interest in pain medicine, as well as excellent interpersonal skills, work ethic, and leadership potential. All active residents should be in good stand standing with their program director.

Criteria for Graduates of a Canadian Medical School
  • Who are currently in their final year (PGY-4 to PGY-5) or who have completed training in a Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, and Rheumatology. Entry from other FRCPC programs such as Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, and Palliative Care is possible in exceptional cases.
  • Who are currently in their final year or who have completed training in an accredited US ACGME program in Anesthesiology, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, and Rheumatology. Entry from other FRCPC programs such as Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, and Palliative Care is possible in exceptional cases. Applicants in this category must receive an official ruling or eligibility to to sit the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada exams in their core specialty prior to application to be eligible to apply.
Criteria for International Medical Graduates
  • Who are currently in their final year (R4 to R5) or who have completed training in a Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada accredited program in Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, and Rheumatology. Entry from other FRCPC programs such as Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, and Palliative Care is possible in exceptional cases.
  • Internal Medical Graduate applicants must declare any Return of Service obligations on the application and may be disqualified if their provincial obligations preclude subspecialty training.
Obtaining Credit for Previous Training

The Royal College has an established process to consider credits from previous resident training.

Residents who wish to have some of their previous training considered towards their prospective residency training should first discuss this with their future Program Director. The Program Director will determine if the previous training is relevant to the current training.

The Program Director must ensure that a resident’s performance warrants a recommendation for credit, that the training time can be reduced for that resident, and that he/she will still meet the competencies and requirements in the specialty and be successful at the certification examinations.