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Collingwood (Rural)

Collingwood Overview

Nestled in the heart of Georgian Bay, Collingwood offers a unique blend of small-town charm and vibrant outdoor activities. Surrounded by stunning natural beauty, residents can enjoy all-season tourist opportunities, including skiing at Blue Mountain, hiking, and water sports. There are numerous multi-disciplinary teaching clinics with dynamic generalist practices incorporating broad scoped care with opportunities in obstetrics, emergency medicine, hospitalist, palliative care, and advanced family medicine surgical skin care. These core family medicine community practices are located in Collingwood, Stayner, Wasaga Beach, Creemore, Meaford, Clarksburg, and Thornbury. Off-service rotations are generally in Collingwood, with Pediatrics in Owen Sound but they may be distributed throughout the ROMP region. 

Program highlights

Most specialty rotations have the capacity to be done locally at the main hospital in Collingwood, including obstetrics, emergency medicine, and internal medicine. 

    • Family Practice Anesthesia
      • Robust family practice anesthesia group providing anesthesia and call services at the hospital 
      • Opportunities to practice in various clinical settings, ensuring a well-rounded skill set.
    • Emergency Medicine
      • High-paced ER environment with a diverse case mix due to proximity to Blue Mountain.
      • Residents develop strong Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) skills, essential for rapid diagnosis and management.
      • Full-time casting technician on staff that is eager to teach and share their skill set, reflecting the high volume of injury-related cases.
    • Hospice and Palliative Care
      • A strong hospice that was created with family physician collaboration in response to community needs.
      • Many physicians are involved in caring for their own end-of-life patients, offering continuity and comprehensive care with palliative physicians available in a consultant and collaborate role
    • Neonatal Care Opportunities 
        • Although the closest pediatric care rotation is in Owen Sound, the Collingwood hospital boasts a novel opportunity in the role of ‘baby doc’ care where family physicians take lead on newborn care roster to cover neonatal emergencies
    • Primary Clinic Locations 
          • Residents have the opportunity to be placed in numerous communities for their primary clinic

Each location provides a unique community feel and diverse patient population with different physician interests enhancing the learning experience. This program is designed to prepare residents for a fulfilling career as rural family physicians, equipped with the skills and experiences needed to thrive in various medical contexts.

Community website: Town of Collingwood

Key info

CaRMS Positions

CMG CaRMS Positions: 4

Academic Hub

Rural Ontario Medical Program (ROMP) Office

459 Hume St. Collingwood, ON L9Y 1W9

Practice Information

Clinical Supervisors: 70

Clinical Supervisors are spread across practices in Collingwood, Stayner, Wasaga Beach, Creemore, Meaford, Clarksburg and Thornbury.

Affiliated Community Hospitals:

Collingwood General & Marine Hospital:84 bed hospital with catchment area of 73,000 with a visiting population of 3.5 million annually

Bright Shores Meaford: 15 bed hospital with a 24 hour emergency department and ambulatory care services

Resident Perspective

“As an R2 in the rural family medicine program in Collingwood, I am very proud to recommend our site for anyone interested in the full scope of practice of a rural generalist. Residents in Collingwood are assigned to preceptors that have hospital privileges, work emergency medicine, do obstetrical care and run busy family practices. There is great opportunity to get involved in care of the elderly and palliative care rotations. Furthermore, we have a fantastic group of GP-anesthesiologists who are very welcoming to residents keen on getting some exposure to airway management.

Our surgical specialists are always accepting of having the residents get involved whether it be with the fracture clinics, lumps and bumps or obstetrical services. As such, the Collingwood residents gain an experience that is truly geared towards generalist medicine. This particular aspect of our site is the highlight of training here. The first year is relatively set in terms of scheduling but the second year is designed to be flexible to meet learners career goals. We have two blocks of elective time as well as selective time in Surgical and Medicine subspecialties.

We are rural, but not remote. As a large tourist area, we benefit from a great selection of restaurants, entertainment activities and of course the great lifestyle that comes with living on the shores of Georgian Bay. If maintaining an active life while getting great medical training is what you are seeking during residency, this is a fantastic site for you! Residents are often found on the slopes at Blue Mountain following days in clinic or can be seen cruising the lake on weekends off. Cycling, running, hiking, sailing, boating; you name it, it is done at this site.

There is some commuting involved in the program as we leave our main site in the R1 year to complete pediatrics and internal medicine rotations in either Orillia or Owen Sound. Don’t worry, you are compensated for housing and/or commuting costs. These rotations are very high yield and it allows us to explore other rural communities throughout our residency. In addition to formal rotations, there are opportunities to gain practice in US skills, to do longitudinal electives and there are many course/conferences offered in the area including ATLS, AIME and CASTED to name a few.

I might be biased seeing as I am a resident in Collingwood, but this is truly an amazing site if you want to gain the skills to be a generalist in family practice while living in a community that offers so much from a lifestyle perspective.”

Contacts

Peter Wells

Assistant Clinical Professor

Rural Stream Site Lead - Collingwood

Alex Breedon

Rural North Education Associate