Faculty members in the Division of General Surgery are involved in the University of Ottawa’s undergraduate medical degree program, participating in teaching part of the block curriculum as well as clerkship seminars (during the third and fourth years of the medical degree program).

External clerks

Medical students from other universities frequently choose to take their electives at the University of Ottawa through our Division of General Surgery as part of their surgical clerkships. Candidates are required to apply through the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine and can do so anytime throughout the year.

General Surgery

All 3rd year medical students at the University of Ottawa must rotate through General Surgery as part of their clerkship. In their 4th year, medical students from universities across the country can request an elective within the Division of General Surgery to determine if it is the specialty they wish to pursue for postgraduate education.

See the Faculty of Medicine's Undergraduate Medical Education website for more details

Please contact:

Electives Coordinator at [email protected]
Undergraduate Medical Education electives page

Additional information

You may also find more information on the University of Ottawa medical degree program page.

The Division of Pediatric General Surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) is actively involved in clinical teaching at undergrad and postgrad levels. We are dedicated and committed to engage and inspire students and residents during the time they spend in their rotation with us.

In 2010, Dr. Bettolli took the lead for undergraduate teaching. As the product of two different medical educational cultures, he has had the opportunity to experience a diverse range of teaching styles. During his early years at the University in Argentina, he came to the realization that dedicated and passionate professors can spark curiosity and generate interest, regardless of the topic.

To ensure students and residents’ exposure and education to acute pediatric surgical problems, they are expected to join the surgery team at morning and evening ward rounds on in-patients, and occasionally, participate in acute care coverage limited to 0800h to 2300h. Together, this combined exposure furthers the students and residents’ education by providing a balance that facilitates their assessment of patients with both acute and elective surgical conditions. This process also provides the students with an opportunity of more directed teaching exposure with residents and staff.

In addition to the daily rounds, students and residents have an active role in the Pediatric Surgical Outpatient Clinic. The outpatient clinic provides an excellent opportunity for informal and personal clinical teaching and mentoring. Depending on the year of training (postgraduate year 1 to 4, residents), fundamental principles of pediatric surgery, anatomy, pathophysiology, and surgical techniques are reviewed while sharing individual experiences and opinions about previous similar cases on a daily basis. Our goal as staff is to work as a partner in a team approach to care for patients, increase knowledge of pediatric surgery, and stimulate critical thinking when encountering patients with potential surgical problems. By the end of their rotation, the students and residents have an appreciation for the management of the common surgical conditions referred to the surgical clinic.

Students and residents are encouraged to present and participate in weekly Pediatric Surgery Academic Rounds that are in duration of 2 hour sessions and are accredited in our Pediatric Surgery Residency Programme.

Residents receive formal and informal teaching in the ward, in clinics, and in the operating room where we are able to guide junior and senior residents through different procedures according to their level of expertise and dexterity.

We believe that role modeling is a powerful tool to influence learning. We make a purposeful effort to demonstrate positive, professional attitudes and behaviors to learners at all times by conveying a consistent sense of enthusiasm, good humor, hard work, respect, responsibility, reliability, team playing, efficiency, effectiveness, and a firm grasp of current knowledge. We attempt to teach in a manner that is kind, honest, respectful, and inclusive while providing candid feedback and positive reinforcement.

This is a five-year post-MD program. The primary aim of the program is to train general surgeons within the goals and objectives set out by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. This includes meeting the goals of a medical expert/clinical decision maker, as well the other competencies defined by CanMEDS, namely Communicator, Collaborator, Leader, Health Advocate, Scholar and Professional. The residency training program is delivered within clinical teaching units at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH), The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), as well as other clinical facilities associated with the University of Ottawa. Training also takes place at the University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre.

• The first year (PGY-1) is divided into 13 four-week blocks, one of which is elective. Six blocks are spent in General Surgery, with the other blocks covering a wide variety of surgical and non-surgical rotations. There are a number of other selective blocks available both in surgical and non-surgical specialties. Residents in PGY-1 must also complete the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Provider Course.

• In the second to fourth years (PGY-2 through PGY-4), each year is divided into 13  four-week blocks, with increasing numbers of General Surgery rotations. Further, in PGY-2 one block is spent in the Intensive Care Unit (Critical Care). In PGY-3 two blocks are divided between gastroenterology and ambulatory surgery. In PGY-4 two one block is elective. Community hospital experience is arranged during this elective block if desired. During the remaining block each year, rotations are chosen between plastic surgery, thoracic surgery and vascular surgery. Other rotations include Intensive Care, Plastic Surgery, and Gastroenterology each for 2 blocks as a PGY-2.  PGY-3s have 2 blocks each of Thoracics and Community rotations. PGY-4s have 2 blocks of Vascular Surgery.

• In PGY-5 the year is spent as Senior Resident only on General Surgery services.

Training Program for General Surgery

It is a 5 year Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons accredited program aimed to prepare graduates for either community practice or for further development in a General Surgery Fellowship.

Application Information

Applications to our residency program must be made through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS).

The University of Ottawa offers a two-year Royal College accredited residency training program in pediatric surgery. Our academic teaching faculty are committed to the highest quality of patient care with a strong focus on education and innovative research.

The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario is the sole tertiary pediatric care center and level one pediatric trauma center in Eastern Ontario. We provide surgical care to Eastern Ontario, Western Québec, and Eastern Nunavut representing a population base of approximately 1.5 million people. We have modern newly renovated neonatal intensive care, pediatric intensive care, day care surgery, and post-anesthesia care units.

In addition to a diversified, high-volume clinical experience, our program has a strong emphasis in academic research with a focus on evidence-based clinical research, a translational pediatric surgery vascular, and tumor biology research laboratory.

Application Deadline

Resident / fellowship selections are made through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).

Contact and Application Information

For additional information on our Pediatric Surgery Residency Program, how to apply to the program, or to schedule an elective, please contact the Program Director or our Office of Education staff. 

Our division is actively engaged in translational basic science research in areas relevant to pediatric surgery and encourages the active participation of trainees at all levels.

Dr. Cowan is the principle investigator for the division’s translational vascular and tumour biology basic science research program within the CHEO Research Institute. Dr. Cowan completed a PhD in cardiovascular research under the supervision of Dr. Marlene Rabinovitch at the Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto where he studied the pathophysiology of primary arterial hypertension and approaches to its reversal. Dr. Cowan continued his basic science training with the completion of a post-doctoral fellowship in area of cell communication and tumour biology in the laboratory of Dr. Dale W. Laird at the University of Western Ontario, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology. For his work, Dr. Cowan has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation Joint Resident Research Award, Physician Services Incorporated Foundation Resident Research Award, and the American College of Cardiology Young Investigator’s Award.

As a scientist in the Molecular Biomedicine Program at the CHEO Research Institute, with cross-appointment to the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa and Faculty of Graduate and Post-graduate Studies affiliation, Dr. Cowan’s translational vascular and tumour biology research program includes undergraduate, graduate (MSc and PhD) and post-graduate students as well as trainees in the surgeon scientist tract and clinical research fellows.

Joining the laboratory as a senior research associate / laboratory manager, Dr. Stéphanie Langlois offers additional knowledge and expertise in the area of tumour biology. Dr. Langlois’ extensive training in this area includes an MSc and PhD from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Université du Québec à Montréal and post-doctoral fellowships at both the University of Western Ontario and the University of Ottawa.

Current translational research projects

• Role of elastases, matrix metalloproteinases, and extracellular matrix in the regulation of pulmonary vascular disease associated with congenital diaphragmatic hernia

• Use of stem cell approaches to treat the pulmonary vascular disease associated with congenital diaphragmatic hernia

• Role of pannexins in the regulation of skeletal muscle differentiation, regeneration, and dystrophy

• Role of pannexins in the tumourigenesis of rhabdomyosarcoma and their potential use as therapeutic targets

Contact and application information

For additional information or to apply to the Translational Vascular and Tumour Biology Research Program, please contact:

Dr. Kyle Cowan
613-737-7600 ext. 2675
[email protected]

The Division of Pediatric General Surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) is very productive in terms of clinical research. We are dedicated to investigating a variety of surgical problems with an evidence-based approach.

Dr. Ahmed Nasr, Associate Professor, holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Toronto, and a PhD from Cairo University. He has over 70 peer-reviewed publications to date and has developed expertise in the field of systematic review and meta-analysis.

Dr. Nasr is the founder of the Canadian Association of Pediatric Surgeons Evidence-Based Resource (CAPS EBR). This online resource is open-access and responds directly to the information needs of pediatric surgeons by providing them with critically appraised and summarized evidence obtained through systematic reviews on questions that they have identified as being of critical importance to the provision of optimal patient care. Although still in its infancy, the CAPS EBR has established itself as a popular resource for pediatric surgeons worldwide.

Recently, Dr. Nasr launched the Patient and Family Decision Aids Project as an extension of the CAPS EBR. Decision aids are evidence-based tools that facilitate shared decision making in healthcare by increasing patient/family knowledge of the available options, allowing them to feel more informed and clear about what matters most to them, and establishing accurate expectations of benefits and harms.

Dr. Nasr takes an active role in teaching and supervising students interested in the field of pediatric surgery. Trainees involved with our research activities gain a broad understanding of the research process and acquire specific research skills that are valuable for their future careers.

Contact:
Dr. Ahmed Nasr
(613) 737-7600
[email protected]