Academic Teaching Centres

The Department of Family Medicine has three (3) Academic Teaching Centres where family physicians and multidisciplinary health teams work to take care of patients and educate future family physicians.

What is a Teaching Centre?

The Calgary Family Medicine Teaching Centres are training sites for physicians and other disciplines in family medicine. As a patient of our clinics, you will be seen by medical students or residents and their supervising physician. Together with multi-disciplinary team members, our learners and physicians are committed to providing you with the highest quality of evidence-based medical care.

What types of learners are at the clinic?

Residents are physicians who have recently completed medical school and are taking speciality training in family medicine in our clinics. They work with a family physician preceptor.
Clinical Clerks are students in year three of their medical degree.
First and second year medical students also have clinical experiences under the supervision of a family physician.
We have nursing, social work and pharmacy students here from time-to-time as well.

Who will I see during my visit?

Many visits in our clinics will be conducted by a learner of any gender. Your physician may not always be present in the exam room - depending on the nature of your medical concern and the training level of the learner - but is always involved in the visit by helping to direct the care provided by the learner and assist with the decisions made.

Your visit may also involve more than one medical professional. This can result in some delays while learners review your care with the supervising physician. As a result, visits in our clinics typically take longer. Nevertheless, many of our patients take pleasure in knowing that they are playing a vital role in the development of a new generation of family physicians and other medical professionals.

Diversity and Inclusion

We value the diversity of the patients we are privileged to care for, as well as that of our team members and are committed to creating a safe environment inclusive of that diversity.

Team-Based Care

Our dedicated teams of physicians, learners, multi-disciplinary team members and support staff work together to provide you with comprehensive, coordinated care. These teams work in small units within the clinic, called "microsystems". Members of a microsystem work closely together, so that if your family doctor is unavailable, you can be seen by a doctor from the same team, who will be familiar with your needs.

Working with Residents

Your doctor is a practicing family physician preceptor working to train new family physicians. While training, these new family physicians are called residents. Residents are licensed physicians completing a 2 year specialty program in family medicine.

What does it mean to have a resident involved in my care?

The resident is identified as part of the physician team caring for you (your family physician is the primary physician and the resident is the secondary physician).
The resident is actively and jointly responsible for your care, in partnership and under the direct supervision of your family physician.
Your primary physician is still your family doctor and they will have ongoing responsibility for your care.
We strive to provide consistency with your resident over time.

Why would I want to have a resident involved in my care?

You can have 2 doctors caring for you every visit.
Residents are keen to learn from you and grateful for your time.
Residents work more slowly and are often able to go into more detail.
You can be directly involved in training the next generation of caring and competent family physicians.
We are teaching residents to practice the best patient care by working in teams with dieticians, psychologists, pharmacists, social workers and other health care providers.
Our teaching practice strives to demonstrate the highest quality of care, regularly completing audits and quality improvement reviews.

How do I book appointments?

Reception will book your appointment, and whenever possible you will be booked under your resident, who is being supervised by your family physician.

Will my visits take more time?

Your visits might take more time.
Residents work more slowly and often more thoroughly, and extra time is taken by your family physician to review and discuss patient care.

What happens at each visit?

For most visits, you will see your resident first.
Your resident will review your case in detail with your family physician (this may occur outside the exam room and includes spending time reviewing your health issues/concerns, reviewing your tests/investigations/reports).
Your family physician may choose to clarify parts of your history or exam.
You and your physician team will discuss the best management plan.

How do I know my care is being supervised?

Your resident is required to work in partnership and under the direct supervision of your family physician.
Your family physician can directly observe the resident by joining you in the clinic room or by camera, or by video recording (video recording can only be done with your permission and signed consent).
As residents progress through the 2 year program, they will have increased responsibility for patient care and will do more on their own.
All visits, decisions and records are reviewed and approved by the supervising physician.

Who follows up on my tests, investigations or reports?

All tests/investigations/reports will be sent to your family physician for review.
The resident will also review the results and discuss them with your family physician.
Management and follow up will be determined by the physician team.

Who do I see if my resident or my family physician is away?

If your resident is away, you may be seen by another resident working with your family physician.
If your family physician is away, a colleague family physician will be teaching and supervising your resident, and reviewing all incoming patient information.

What happens when the resident graduates?

When the resident graduates, you may meet a new resident working with your family physician for the next 2 years.

Our Clinics are a Patient Medical Home

The Patient Medical Home (PMH) is a vision for Canadian family practice, presented by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and updated in 2019. It puts the patient at the centre of the care model, to receive comprehensive, coordinated and continuous care from a family physician and health care team. This vision outlines 10 pillars of a Patient Medical Home.

The PMH is a family practice defined by its patients as the place they feel most comfortable discussing their personal and family health and medical concerns.

The College of Family Physicians of Canada. Family Practice - The Patient's Medical Home 2019: A New Vision for Canada. Mississauga, ON; 2019.

Primary Care Networks (PCN) are groups of family doctors who work with Alberta Health Services and other health professionals to coordinate the delivery of primary care services for their patients. Each network has the flexibility to develop programs and to provide services in a way that works locally to meet the specific needs of patients.

The Department of Family Medicine's three teaching centres each have physicians that are part of Calgary's Primary Care Networks. Click the links below for more info on each clinic's Primary Care Network.

Central Family Medicine Teaching Centre is a member of both:

South Health Campus Family Medicine Teaching Centre is a member of:

South Calgary PCN

Sunridge Family Medicine Teaching Clinic is a member of:

Mosaic PCN