Ridge Meadows Hospital (RMH) is recruiting three physicians to join our group of nine full and part-time internists/subspecialists. The successful candidates will be subspecialists with GIM ability, or GIM with a subspecialty interest of relevance to Ridge Meadows Hospital and/or the community.

RMH serves Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, with a combined population of over 110,000. As a semi-rural community 45 minutes from downtown Vancouver, it provides a perfect blend of lifestyles. RMH is well known as one of the most collegial work sites, with 125 acute care beds, plus 60 subacute/rehab and inpatient psychiatry. We have an 8-bed ICU with 3 ventilator capacity, plus telemetry. RMH receives roughly 45,000 ER visits per year. Our hospital provides full-service community medicine, with full radiology services including MRI scanning, and excellent support from the “big city” hospitals and staff.

The internists/subspecialists are “most responsible physician” for the sickest patients and provide consultative support to hospitalists and other specialties for those who are less acute. Our very strong hospitalist program means that internists are seeing a high proportion of high-acuity medicine.

Inpatient call/consultation is currently provided by two internists during the daytime, and one at night, with daytime service provided in week-long blocks. Night call is approximately one night in eight. Recruitment will allow us to expand to three internists during the daytime. A rapid-access clinic is in the process of development, with great support from the administration, and this will further expand the role of internal medicine; at present, the functioning of the clinic is contingent upon the recruitment of internists.

At present, there is a parallel Respirology call group, of which most members also provide GIM coverage. This model may be expanded to other subspecialties. Our subspecialists provide assistance and consultation to the other internists as needed.

The successful candidates are expected to follow up with their patients in the community and are encouraged to open a practice for consult services. All previous recruits have been extremely busy within a short time.

Our department is affiliated with the University of British Columbia as a Community Internal Medicine teaching site. Successful applicants will be required to apply for a clinical appointment with UBC, and are encouraged to seek eventual appointment as Clinical Assistant Professor or above. Participation in teaching of residents, fellows and 4th year medical students is required.

The candidate must have CPSBC certification, FRCPC certification in Internal Medicine and CMPA coverage, and must demonstrate evidence of sufficient clinical experience in all areas of General Medicine. The candidate must be proficient in basic procedural skills such as lumbar puncture, central line insertion and chest tubes, as well as management of ventilated ICU patients (in conjunction with other paramedical staff). Experience and demonstrated skills in point-of-care ultrasound, leadership, medical administration, and teaching will be considered an asset.

Appointment will be provisional for 1 year, usually followed by permanent staff appointment.

Qualifications:
Current College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC) License (Full); Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) (Mandatory); Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC) (Mandatory)