Media

OTTAWA, May 18, 2011  —  More than 150 students from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine will now be contributing to improving the health of all Canadians, with the 2011 Ceremony of Professional Engagement and Convocation for the Faculty of Medicine taking place today at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

What separates this graduating class from their Canadian counterparts can be seen in a new report released by the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS), which shows that University of Ottawa MD program students have the highest acceptance rate into their first choice discipline for residency programs, during which they train to become family physicians or specialists. The report indicates that 97.2% of the school’s MD graduates were matched with their exact discipline of choice. CaRMS provides an electronic application service and computer matches for entry into residency training throughout Canada.

Moreover, the Faculty of Medicine MD students who choose family medicine as their discipline represent 44% of all graduates, an impressive achievement for such a highly renowned research-intensive university like the University of Ottawa.

“We are committed in doing our part to provide our country with specialists, researchers and family medicine practitioners who will serve as leaders in the community and provide much needed health care services,” said Dr. Jacques Bradwejn, dean of the Faculty of Medicine.

Class of 2011 medical graduate Luis Rivero Lopez added, “Our faculty has done a great job in giving exposure to family medicine as a specialty. We are working in a very dynamic and professional environment where family physicians are highly valued not only by patients, but also by our colleagues. Ottawa is a great place to be a family doctor.”

The University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine’s Undergraduate Medical Education Program was awarded its highest accreditation results ever in 2010, with 127 out of 131 standards met and accreditation for a full eight years, the longest period possible.

Our Faculty of Medicine is nationally recognized as a leader in medical research. Through their intense research activities, the Faculty of Medicine and affiliated research institute partners have contributed significantly to the following uOttawa milestones: the second highest growth rate in overall Tri-Council Funding (all programs) since 2003, second place ranking in Canada by Maclean’s magazine for medical science grants and the third highest growth rate since 2003 in Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funding for universities with medical schools.