Rural Residency Program

The Rural Alberta North (RAN) Program

The Rural Alberta North units of our Program offer a CaRMS level entry for those residents wishing to learn entirely in the rural and regional setting. These two units are based in Red Deer and Grand Prairie. Since residents relocate to these settings (often permanently), they learn first hand the needs of their community.

The RAN family medicine experience is entirely regional, rural or remote. In the PGY1 year, residents do four weeks of family medicine in their regional home base and eight weeks of rural family medicine. PGY2 residents spend 28 weeks in rural practices, eight of which can be spent in a remote rural area.

The Department has established the following Academic Teaching Centers in Northern and Southern Alberta :

  • Banff
  • Beaverlodge/Hythe
  • Bonnyville
  • Camrose
  • Didsbury
  • Drayton Valley
  • Edson
  • Grande Cach
  • Grande Prairie
  • Innisfail
  • Inuvik
  • High Level
  • High Prairie
  • Hinton
  • Lac La Biche
  • McLennan
  • Peace River
  • Ponoka
  • Provost
  • Red Deer
  • Rimbey
  • Slave Lake
  • Spirit River
  • Sylvan Lake
  • Three Hills
  • Trochu
  • Westlock
  • Wetaskiwin
  • Whitecourt
  • Whitehorse

Each of these sites affords an opportunity for extensive training in all aspects of rural family medicine, as well as an in-depth exposure of the resident to rural community life.

A third year of training...

The program allows residents who are committed to working in rural Alberta a third year of training during which specialized skills can be honed. The third year objectives are individualized to the needs of the resident and may involve a number of different specialties or sub-specialties. Currently, third year residents in this program are receiving specialized training in:

  Operative obstetrics General surgery Anesthesia
  Palliative care Geriatrics