Vancouver Island - Internal Medicine

University of British ColumbiaVancouver Island, British ColumbiaCMG stream

Program websiteWebsite CANPREPPCANPREPP

Open on carms.ca

CaRMS program description, 2026 match, last approved 27 Aug 2025

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

Positions (approx. quota): 5 positions
Length: 5 years
Stream: CMG
Discipline: Internal Medicine
Applications per year: 51–200
Applicants offered interviews: 26–50%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 29520

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

Summary

The University of British Columbia's Internal Medicine Residency Program on Vancouver Island offers a comprehensive three-year training experience that provides equivalent but unique medical education compared to the main Vancouver program. Residents will train primarily on Vancouver Island with mandatory rotations in Victoria and Vancouver, emphasizing personalized learning, academic development, and diverse clinical experiences.

Training

Research

Three months of research time during core training, with mentorship, annual research events, and funding for conference presentations.

Training setting

Training occurs primarily at Royal Jubilee Hospital and Victoria General Hospital in Victoria, with additional rotations in community sites like Duncan, Nanaimo, Campbell River, and Comox, and mandatory blocks in Vancouver hospitals.

Teaching approach

The program emphasizes education over service, uses a competency-based approach with graded responsibility, and provides a flexible curriculum that allows personalized learning experiences with excellent faculty access.

Setting types

Tertiary care center
Community hospital
Academic medical center

Focus areas

Internal Medicine
Core Medical Training
Distributed Medical Education
Academic Medicine

Patient populations

Tertiary care patients
Community hospital patients
Ambulatory medicine patients
Oncology patients

Highlights

Longitudinal outpatient medicine clinic
Annual Summer Welcome Retreat
Spring Research Afternoon
Graduation Celebration
Five days of conference leave annually
Associate Membership to American College of Physicians
OSCEs
Resident Wellness initiatives
Research mentor system

Strengths

Distributed medical education model
Personalized learning environment
Strong research support
Comprehensive academic curriculum
Flexible elective opportunities

Enhanced skills

Research skills
Academic medicine
Scholarly projects

By year

PGY-1

Sub-specialty electivesVictoria/Vancouver Island20 weeks
Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU)Victoria and Vancouver18 weeks
Coronary Care Unit (CCU)Victoria8 weeks
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)Victoria4 weeks
Boot CampVancouver General Hospital2 weeks

PGY-2

Sub-specialty electivesVancouver Island and other locations24 weeks
Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU)Victoria16 weeks
Coronary Care Unit (CCU)Victoria8 weeks
CommunityVancouver Island4 weeks

PGY-3

Sub-specialty electivesVancouver Island, Vancouver, and other locations28 weeks
Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU)Victoria12 weeks
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)Victoria8 weeks
Ambulatory MedicineVictoria4 weeks

From the program's rotation list.

Selection

What the program looks at

Medical Student Performance Record (MSPR)
Reference letters
Personal letter
CV/Resume
Interview performance

Applications per year

51–200

Applicants offered interviews

26–50%

Interviews

Dates (2026 match): 9 Jan 2026

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

Royal Jubilee Hospital
Victoria General Hospital
BC Cancer Agency
Vancouver General Hospital
St. Paul's Hospital
Royal Columbian 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.

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.

Victoria General Hospital

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

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 8,131 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: 2,108 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

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.

Show facts for 2 more sites

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.

Royal Columbian Hospital

Matched to Royal Columbian Hospital (New Westminster) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 4,798 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: 1,447 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 1 of 8 years (2019–2026); still open after round 2 in 0 of 9 years.

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

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	0
2019	0	0
2020	0	0
2021	0	0
2022	0	0
2023	0	0
2024	0	0
2025	4 positions open after round 1 in 2025, CaRMS list (opens in a new tab)	0
2026	0	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 Island, British Columbia

Independent. Not affiliated with CaRMS or the program. Programs edit their descriptions during the match; confirm on carms.ca (opens in a new tab) before you apply. Data last updated on CdnMD 5 Oct 2026.