Residents as part of the Queen’s Family Health Team

The Queen’s Family Health Team is a health-care organization comprising family doctors, resident physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, a dietitian and a pharmacist. Working together as a team, we provide a wide range of health-care services and programs.

Resident physicians are medical doctors who must complete two years of residency before they become independent specialists in family medicine. Working with the latest medical information and technologies under the direction and supervision of our family doctors, our resident physicians bring enthusiasm and fresh perspective to patient care.

How does the residency program work?

To ensure consistency for our patients and our residents, we assign our patients to two specific residents each year. Over the course of each year, you have three doctors overseeing your care – your family doctor and your two resident physicians. We believe it’s important that our patients have an opportunity to get to know the residents who will be looking after them for the year so, whenever possible, you will be booked for appointments with “your” resident.

Will I ever see my family doctor? Will he or she always know what is going on with my health?

Absolutely. Usually, you will see your resident physician, but we do try to ensure that you see your family doctor on a regular basis. If you haven’t seen your doctor in a while, please mention this to the receptionist, who will try to book you in with your doctor on your next appointment.

Even when your appointment is with your resident physician, your family doctor is always “with” you. Residents always work under the supervision of one of our faculty physicians. In fact, the faculty physician is often in the next room, available for consultation with both the resident and the patient, or is “observing” the appointment via live-stream.

What is live-stream observation?

To ensure we are offering the best care to you and your family, your doctor will sometimes observe your resident’s conversation with you in your clinic room through a process of live streaming. The live-stream device is focused on the consultation desk only (never a physical exam), and there is no recording.

Queen’s Family Health Team faculty members are the only individuals who can view your conversation with your resident via the password-protected live stream.

There are three reasons we observe our residents: 1) the quality of the care we provide you is very important to us; 2) through live streaming, your physician is kept well informed of your care and needs; and 3) observing residents’ interactions with you enables us to provide valuable feedback to them after your appointment.

You have the right to opt out of this live-stream process. If you wish to do so, please let your doctor or resident physician know, and feel free to ask us any questions you may have.

How can I give you feedback about my resident?

We would greatly appreciate you telling us about your experience with your resident physician. After your appointment, please visit the tablet computer in your waiting room to answer nine questions about your experience. The questions relate to the residents’ listening skills, the time they take to explain things, their level of respect shown to you, etc. All feedback is anonymous. To answer the questions, simply follow the directions on the screen to start, then tap the screen over the best answer to make your selections. This will require about two minutes of your time.

How long is each residency program? What do the residents do when they’re not here?

In order to prepare them for a practice in family medicine, our residents are exposed to many experiences during their two-year residency program. Each July, we welcome approximately 50 first-year family medicine residents from across Canada and throughout the world. During their first year, residents spend 24 weeks in our clinic. They are assigned a group of patients whom they follow during their time with us. When not in clinic, first-year residents are allocated to a rotation in a variety of specialties including obstetrics, orthopedics, pediatrics, internal medicine and emergency medicine, etc.

Second-year residents continue their rotations at different family medicine clinical settings throughout southeastern Ontario.