Program Director (PD) Resources
The PGME Office is dedicated to ensuring PDs are supported in their roles with a variety of resources.
A Program Director, or "PD", refers to the individual responsible and accountable for the overall conduct and organization of the accredited Residency or Area of Focused Competence (AFC) program for which they oversee. PDs have a challenging and complex role. These resources provide training and information for PDs to successfully support trainees in their programs.
The purpose of the PGME Committee is to facilitate governance and Oversight of all residency programs and to support the Associate Dean, PGME in planning, organizing, and evaluating all aspects of residency education. All Residency and AFC Program Directors are members of the PGME Committee.
Subcommittees of the PGME Committee include:
- PGME Executive Subcommittee
- PGME Quota and Allocation of Training Positions Committee
- Internal Review Committee (IRC)
- Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee (EDIC)
The overarching PD Policy governs residency/AFC PDs. Other key policies and procedures that relate specifically to PDs include:
The Royal College created the "A practical guide for leading an exceptional program". We encourage you to explore this!
Via the button below, you will find additional handbooks from Canadian Excellence in Residency Accreditation (CanERA) and the Royal College.
The PGME Program Handbook is a one-stop-shop for accredited residency & AFC programs looking for our topic/role-specific resource toolkits (e.g. PD Toolkit/PD School, CaRMS, Accreditation), templates, forms, key PGME contacts (based on topic/common inquiries from programs), as well as information/resources that have previously been shared by PGME with our programs via our newsletters.
The PD Toolkit is for both new and experienced Program Directors. It is not a comprehensive guide to the PD role, but is instead a general guide addressing key topics necessary to be successful in your role. It is not specialty specific. Within the Toolkit is the mandatory "PD School" module that all new PDs must complete.
Please email pgmecom@ualberta.ca for the link, as access is limited.
In accordance with the General Standards of Accreditation, in the Fall of 2022 PGME launched several targeted newsletters (for residents and for PDs/PAs) to ensure ongoing communication with our stakeholders. Our goal is to both provide support to PDs in their roles and ensure they are kept in the loop with the latest information, news, reminders, deadlines, tips, and more.
If you aren't receiving these and believe you should be, please contact pgmecom@ualberta.ca.
There are a number of PD Professional Development events held throughout the year:
- Knowledge Bites Series (monthly from September through to April)
- PD Retreat (annually in either February or March)
All PDs are automatically sent an invitation to these events. If you haven't been receiving invitations, please email pgaccred@ualberta.ca.
Resources & Quick Links
For all programs (residency, AFC, and fellowship):
- (fillable)
Residency-specific:
- (Credit, Waiver, etc.)
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Fellowship-specific (including AFC documents):
Please visit the to access fillable and sample forms, how-to documents, process guidelines, Terms of Reference and presentation materials.
Please note that CCID login is required to access all of the above resources, templates, and forms.