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Family Medicine

Owen Sound (Rural Stream)

The City of Owen Sound is located on the southern shores of Georgian Bay. Owen Sound family physicians provide inpatient and emergency care at the Grey Bruce Health Services, which is a regional referral centre. The referral centre covers a catchment area of 160,000 people, which means you get the amazing rural lifestyle, but the volume and acuity found in a larger center. We have access to an MRI and CT scanner and you work closely with internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, general, orthopedic, urological and ENT surgery in a collegial working environment. Family Medicine residents are the only full-time residents at the referral centre so you are usually 1:1 with preceptors and have first dibs on procedures, interesting cases, and extra learning experiences with specialists.

Owen Sound has a beautiful new waterfront clinic, where most family preceptors follow their own inpatients and have other interest areas including maternity care, nursing homes, house visits, addictions medicine, etc. Each physician has access to many allied health professionals such as pharmacists, nurse practitioners, diabetes educators, social workers, etc. There is an ECG machine, procedure room, pharmacy, and radiology department in the building, and a great European Bakery!

The academic hub for Owen Sound is in the ROMP Offices in Collingwood.

Community website: City of Owen Sound

Key Stats

  • CMG CaRMS Positions: 2
  • Preceptors: 23
  • 160 bed hospital with catchment area of 160,000.
  • 700 births per year and 36,000 ER visits per year.

Contacts

Dr. Cam Tweedie
Site Lead

Alex Breedon, Education Associate
mcmfammed@romponline.com

Resident Perspective

  • Education-based learning – while staff are genuinely excited to have learners around, they do not rely on us to keep things running. Therefore every experience is based around your learning. You will do very little ‘scut’ work.
  • Home call – you may be on call more days than your urban counter-parts but typically you are less busy, and this allows you to get enough volume and is more representative of how you will practice as a rural physician when you finish
  • Flexible schedules – you choose your own shifts in ER and you choose your own call shifts on internal medicine and surgery
  • Local rotations in R1 year – since Owen Sound is a regional hospital, it has enough volume for all core rotations to be completed on site!
  • Mandatory block of general surgery in second year – this is unique to Owen Sound. Because of this block, you only have 8 weeks of elective time in second year instead of 12 like other residents in the program.
  • Longitudinal ER experience – you do a half day of ER while on FM rotations. This allows for great continuity of learning
  • Rural lifestyle – Owen Sound is located on Georgian Bay, at the base of the beautiful Bruce Peninsula with endless recreation opportunities such as: sailing, kayaking, kite boarding, rock climbing, camping, skiing, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, hiking, hockey, dragon boating, rowing, and multiple festivals and cultural events