The principal training sites of the Adult Cardiology Training Program are the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and the Jewish General Hospital. The MUHC includes the Royal Victoria Hospital (Glen campus) and the Montreal General Hospital.

The Royal Victoria Hospital is a quaternary academic medical centre, with capabilities in cardiac transplant, mechanical circulatory support, and advanced techniques for coronary, valvular, complex congenital heart and electrophysiology interventions. The hospital is adjacent to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, a regional pediatric cardiac care centre, allowing exposure to pediatric patients with heart disease and pediatric transplantation as well.

The Montreal General Hospital is the site of an electrophysiology laboratory, a CCU with excellent exposure to complex arrhythmia cases, a busy emergency room, an echo lab and is the major referral centre for the First Nations Communities of Northern Quebec.

At the Jewish General Hospital, our residents have the opportunity to work in a high-acuity integrated cardiology/cardiac surgery CCU, with exposure to the full breadth of cardiovascular disease through the busiest emergency department in the province.

Residents complete rotations at all three sites for the core rotations as required by the current Royal College Specialty Training Requirements, such as CCU, Cardiology Consultations, and echocardiography. All three hospitals provide out-patient services, and Cardiology resident are assigned to a Longitudinal General Cardiology Clinic at one of the sites. These clinics are held one half day each week over the three-year program and patients are triaged to be seen specifically by our residents. Otherwise, residents rotate through all McGill hospitals and affiliated centres in order to obtain as broad and comprehensive training experience as possible.

At McGill, training is currently divided annually into thirteen periods, each of four-weeks’ duration. During their three years, residents will complete rotations according to the Royal College Specialty Training Requirements. In addition, the McGill Program requires one period of cardiac surgery and one period of community cardiology, in a community hospital setting of the resident’s choice, provided a Cardiologist agrees to serve locally as the rotation supervisor. There is ample opportunity for electives, both locally, out of province and internationally.

With the advent of Competency By Design in the discipline of Cardiology, there will be increased flexibility in scheduling training experiences to allow residents to progress and achieve their entrustable Professional Activities.

Teaching activities follow the objectives of training set forth by the Royal College. There is a Program-led robust academic curriculum consisting of an Academic Half Day each Wednesday afternoon. All residents are required to attend this protected teaching time, regardless of their clinical rotation. Various teaching rounds are available at the different hospital sites during the week as well as other educational, career planning and social activities organized throughout the year.

In addition to completion of a scholarly project, residents are expected to present at least once at the annual McGill Cardiovascular Research Day. The Program’s residents have traditionally been very successful in presenting their projects at national and international meetings and in having manuscripts accepted for publication.