Emergency Medicine: the Practice Eligibility Route

How training is structured

The Royal College sets out the training for Emergency Medicine in the blocks below. An internationally trained specialist is assessed on whether their own training and practice record is comparable in structure and content.

Required experiences

Specific experiences the Royal College names for this discipline.

• 1.1 A minimum of twenty-four (24) months as a resident in the emergency department, which includes: 1.1.1 a minimum of six (6) months as a senior resident; 1.1.2 a minimum of four (4) months with a pediatric clinical emphasis, a portion of which is as a senior resident; 1.1.3 a minimum of one (1) month in a community or non-tertiary care hospital setting
• 1.2 A minimum of four (4) months or equivalent devoted to objectives in areas of particular importance to Emergency Medicine: emergency medical services (EMS), including pre-hospital care and disaster management; the administrative aspects of Emergency Medicine; educational skills; research skills
• 1.4 A minimum of six (6) months on critical care rotations, including at least one (1) month or equivalent in each of: 1.4.1 Anesthesiology; 1.4.2 Adult Critical Care; 1.4.3 Pediatric Critical Care; 1.4.4 Cardiac Care
• 1.5 A minimum of eight (8) months on rotations in other disciplines, selected from the following without a specific requirement for any one: 1.5.1 Family Medicine; 1.5.2 General Surgery; 1.5.3 Internal Medicine; 1.5.4 Neurosciences; 1.5.5 Orthopedics; 1.5.6 Psychiatry (including crisis intervention); 1.5.7 Obstetrics/Gynecology; 1.5.8 Pediatrics; 1.5.9 Plastic Surgery; 1.5.10 Traumatology; 1.5.11 Toxicology

Flexible or selective components

Where the requirements allow a choice.

• 1.3 A minimum of six (6) months devoted to achieving particular expertise in a scholarly activity or clinical area pertinent to Emergency Medicine; clearly identifiable and structured, with specific activities, objectives, and measurable goals, formally approved by the program. Examples: education, clinical research, health care management, pre-hospital care, pediatrics, toxicology, and critical care
• 1.6 A maximum of months on selective activities approved by the program: 1.6.1 eight (8) months of further training in any of the above activities (sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5)
• 1.7 Four (4) months of elective activities

Common questions

What is the Practice Eligibility Route in Emergency Medicine?

The Practice Eligibility Route (PER) is the Royal College process by which an internationally trained specialist can be assessed for eligibility to sit the certification examination in Emergency Medicine without repeating a Canadian residency. The Royal College reads your postgraduate training and practice record against the published Specialty Training Requirements for the discipline.

What training does the Royal College expect in Emergency Medicine?

The Specialty Training Requirements describe five (5) years of approved residency training. The full block-by-block structure is set out on this page, taken from the Royal College document for this discipline.

Does meeting the training requirements guarantee eligibility?

No. Eligibility is a committee decision made on your individual file, and other factors are considered. This page reproduces the published requirements so you can see how your own training compares before you apply; it is not an eligibility ruling.

Where do I start?

Read the six steps in the PER guide, then have your training mapped against the Specialty Training Requirements before you pay any fees. The free PDF for this specialty carries the steps, the document checklist, and the Emergency Medicine requirements in one file.

More on the route itself: the full PER guide covers the six steps and the document checklist. Royal College examination dates for every discipline are on the Deadline Radar, and Canadian clinical fellowships in Emergency Medicine are in the Fellowship Finder.