Vancouver - Medical Microbiology

University of British ColumbiaVancouver, British ColumbiaCMG stream

Program websiteWebsite CANPREPPCANPREPP2 more links

Open on carms.ca

CaRMS program description, 2026 match, last approved 13 Aug 2025

From the 2026 match (R-1 2026). See the 2027 version

Positions (approx. quota): 1 position
Length: 5 years
Stream: CMG
Discipline: Medical Microbiology
Applications per year: 0–50
Applicants offered interviews: 76–100%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 29784

Bands are 5-year averages the program reports to CaRMS. They describe past cycles, not your odds.

Summary

The UBC Medical Microbiology Residency Program is a comprehensive 5-year training program designed to help residents acquire expertise in laboratory and clinical medicine. The program focuses on developing competent Medical Microbiologists who can diagnose, manage, and prevent infectious diseases at patient, institutional, and population levels.

Training

Research

Residents have dedicated research time and can pursue electives in research, public health, epidemiology, or related fields.

Training setting

Training occurs across multiple urban teaching hospitals in Vancouver, including comprehensive academic medical centers, pediatric hospitals, and community hospitals, providing diverse clinical and laboratory experiences.

Teaching approach

Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) with progressive independence, focusing on achieving CanMEDS competencies through structured stages: transition to discipline, foundational training, core training, and transition to practice.

Setting types

Academic medical center
Tertiary care hospital
Community hospital
Provincial reference laboratory

Focus areas

Diagnostic Microbiology
Infectious Diseases
Infection Prevention and Control
Antimicrobial Stewardship
Epidemiology
Laboratory Management

Patient populations

Adult patients
Pediatric patients
Inner city populations
Provincial referral patients
Infectious disease patients

Highlights

Competence by Design (CBD) curriculum
Flexible elective opportunities
Research time
Rotations across multiple hospital sites
Course preparation and leadership opportunities
Potential international elective opportunities

Strengths

Comprehensive training across laboratory and clinical settings
Flexible curriculum tailored to resident interests
Strong faculty-to-resident ratio
Multiple training sites
Extensive research opportunities

Enhanced skills

Tropical Medicine
Public Health
Epidemiology
Laboratory Management

By year

PGY-1

Medical MicrobiologyVarious hospitalsInitial rotations
Infectious DiseasesVarious hospitalsInitial rotations
Internal MedicineVarious hospitalsInitial rotations

PGY-2

Laboratory MicrobiologyProvincial Reference Laboratory8-12 weeks
Clinical Infectious DiseasesVarious hospitals4 weeks
Internal MedicineVarious hospitalsVaries
Critical CareVarious hospitalsVaries

PGY-3

MycobacteriologyLaboratory2 blocks
VirologyLaboratory2 blocks
MycologyLaboratory2 blocks
ParasitologyLaboratory2 blocks
Infection Prevention and ControlVarious hospitals2 blocks
Antimicrobial StewardshipVarious hospitals2 blocks

From the program's rotation list.

Selection

What the program looks at

Academic achievement
Elective performance
Research portfolio
Letters of recommendation
Interview performance
Communication skills
Interpersonal skills

Applications per year

0–50

Applicants offered interviews

76–100%

Interviews

Dates (2026 match): Not stated on CaRMS page

Programs can change interview dates. Confirm on carms.ca.

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 2 Sep 2026 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Salaries from April 2027.

Annual salary by PGY level, British Columbia
Level	Annual salary
PGY-1	$71,390 / year
PGY-2	$79,571 / year
PGY-3	$86,655 / year
PGY-4	$93,230 / year
PGY-5	$100,215 / year

One provincial scale for British Columbia, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 5 levels this program covers.

Benefits

Benefits as listed by CaRMS in 2022–2024; check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Annual vacation: 4 weeks
CMPA dues paid: Yes. Mandatory
Dental plan: 100% Premiums Paid
Educational leave: Yes
Extended health insurance: 100% Premiums Paid
Frequency of calls: 1 in 4 onsite/1 in 3 offsite
Life insurance: 100% Premium Paid
Long-term disability insurance: Yes 100% Premiums Paid
Maternity leave: 17 weeks, plus up to 78 weeks Parental Leave
Meal allowance: No
Provincial dues (% of salary): 1.5%
Provincial health insurance: 100% Premiums Paid
Sick leave: Yes
Statutory holidays: 2 x pay plus extra day with pay

Call

Call (provincial max): 1 in 4 in-house

The union agreement’s cap for all residents in the province; your program’s actual call schedule may be lighter. Check with the program.

RDBC agreement, 1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2029.

Teaching sites

Vancouver General Hospital
BC Children's and Women's Hospital
St. Paul's Hospital
BC Centre for Disease Control
Surrey Memorial Hospital
Royal Jubilee Hospital
Kelowna General Hospital

Hospital facts

Public figures for hospitals named above, each with its source and reference period. They describe the hospital, not the program, and are not a ranking. We match names to the province’s lists by name, so check each source before you rely on it.

Vancouver General Hospital

Matched to Vancouver General Hospital in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 13,790 All procedure groups, for the fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). Scheduled surgery only: emergency surgery is not in the file.
Elective surgeries completed, 2026/27 Q1: 3,855 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

St. Paul's Hospital

Matched to St. Paul's Hospital (Vancouver) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 8,691 All procedure groups, for the fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). Scheduled surgery only: emergency surgery is not in the file.
Elective surgeries completed, 2026/27 Q1: 2,240 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

Surrey Memorial Hospital

Matched to Surrey Memorial Hospital (Surrey) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 11,911 All procedure groups, for the fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). Scheduled surgery only: emergency surgery is not in the file.
Elective surgeries completed, 2026/27 Q1: 2,849 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

Show facts for 2 more sites

Royal Jubilee Hospital

Matched to Royal Jubilee Hospital (Victoria) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 14,532 All procedure groups, for the fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). Scheduled surgery only: emergency surgery is not in the file.
Elective surgeries completed, 2026/27 Q1: 3,973 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

Kelowna General Hospital

Matched to Kelowna General Hospital (Kelowna) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 15,707 All procedure groups, for the fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). Scheduled surgery only: emergency surgery is not in the file.
Elective surgeries completed, 2026/27 Q1: 4,090 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

Sources and licences

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia.

Unfilled positions in past years

Open after round 1 in 3 of 8 years (2019–2026); still open after round 2 in 2 of 9 years.

Positions at this site, all streams. Site as CaRMS lists it: Vancouver.

Positions at this site, all streams, still open after round 1 and after round 2, by year. Each count above zero links to the CaRMS list page it comes from.
Year	Open after round 1	Open after round 2
2018	not available	1 position open after round 2 in 2018, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)
2019	0	0
2020	1 position open after round 1 in 2020, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2021	0	0
2022	0	0
2023	0	0
2024	0	0
2025	1 position open after round 1 in 2025, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	1 position open after round 2 in 2025, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)
2026	1 position open after round 1 in 2026, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0

CaRMS’s first-round list for 2018 was not found, so round 1 is counted over 8 years and round 2 over 9.

A position can go unfilled because of where the site is, because it is open to IMGs only or to another restricted stream, or because the quota changed late. It says nothing about the quality of the training. Verify with the CaRMS lists. Source: CaRMS’s lists of positions open after round 1 and after round 2, as read in October 2026 (latest: 2026 round 1 (CaRMS PDF, opens in a new tab), 2026 round 2 (CaRMS PDF, opens in a new tab)). A site’s numbers are shown when it had positions open after round 1 in at least 2 of 8 years or at least 3 in one year.

Contacts

Contacts weren't collected for the 2026 match.

The current program director and contacts are on the 2027 version of this program and on the CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab).

Location

Vancouver, British Columbia

About the city

Public statistics for the place named by this program’s location label, each with its source and reference period. They describe the place, not the program, and are not a ranking. Check each source before you rely on it.

Climate

Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020. Each value comes from the nearest weather station that reports it, not from the city itself.

January average: 5.3 °C Vancouver (Harbour), 5.7 km away
July average: 19.0 °C Vancouver (Harbour), 5.7 km away
Snowfall: 36.6 cm a year Vancouver International (Airport), 7.6 km away
Days below −20 °C: 0.0 days a year Vancouver (Harbour), 5.7 km away

People

2021 Census. Figures are for the municipality of Vancouver, not the metropolitan area. Statistics Canada rounds counts, so small places are approximate.

Population: 662,248 people up 4.9% from 2016
Official languages: English only 84.8% · French only 0.1% · English and French 9.3% · neither 5.8% Share of residents who can conduct a conversation in each. This is not the language spoken at home.
Immigrants: 42.2% of residents arrived 2016–2021: 6.4% · non-permanent residents: 6.6%
Indigenous identity: 2.3% of residents
How people commute: car, truck or van 56.2% · public transit 22.9% · walking or cycling 18.4% · other 2.6% Average commute: 25.3 minutes. Shares are of people who commute.The way Canadians commute was altered in 2021 by the pandemic, with lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19 and changes in how and where Canadians worked leading to 2.8 million fewer commuters, compared with five years earlier. Statistics Canada, The Daily, 30 Nov 2022(opens in a new tab)
Median household income: $82,000 before tax $72,000 after tax · income year 2020, in 2020 dollars

Rural and remote

This describes the place named by the program’s location label. Programs can train in several towns, so it is not every site.

Population centre: Vancouver, a large urban population centre (100,000 or more people) 2,426,160 people in 2021
Remoteness index: 0.062 0 is least remote, 1 is most remote. Statistics Canada calls this index experimental.

Housing, cost and work

Each figure names the area it covers. A missing line means the source publishes nothing for this area.

Rental vacancy rate: 3.7% October 2025 survey, Vancouver, British Columbia (census metropolitan area). The share of purpose-built rentals (three units and over) vacant, not a rent.
Basic cost of living: $64,351 a year Market Basket Measure 2025, Vancouver, British Columbia, for two adults with two children. A modest, basic basket (the poverty line), not a resident’s budget. A size-class region is not the town itself.
Unemployment rate: 6.5% September 2026, three-month average, seasonally adjusted, Vancouver, British Columbia (census metropolitan area); standard error 0.4 points. A survey estimate.

Job outlook

Employment and Social Development Canada’s rating for the occupation in the economic region. It is not a count of jobs, and says nothing about CaRMS positions or your match.

Outlook, 2025–2027: Moderate The employment outlook will be Moderate for specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine (NOC 31100) in the Lower Mainland - Southwest region for the 2025-2027 period.
Canada-wide, to 2033: Strong risk of Shortage ESDC’s projection for specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine, 2024–2033. Recent conditions, 2021–2023: Strong signs of Shortage.