Resources

Resources

Residents:

As per the PARA website: AHS Employee benefits are administered through Alberta Blue Cross. You can access your plan # through your ePeople account. Alberta Blue Cross mails ID cards directly to the employee’s home address (as listed on their ePeople Account).

For inquiries about your AHS employee benefits contact:
Phone: 1 (877) 511-4455
Email: HRContactCentre@albertahealthservices.ca

For information regarding making a claim, contact an Alberta Blue Cross agent:
Phone: 1 (800) 661-6995
Web: www.ab.bluecross.ca

 

Fellows:

Fellows are completely responsible for their own healthcare coverage. 

If you (and your dependents) are eligible for the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP), you may apply for it immediately on arrival to Alberta. 

Fellows may also purchase an insurance plan that provides coverage during the application period for AHCIP, if eligible. Fellows in the past have purchased travel insurance from a provider in their home country or current country of residence. Some airlines, travel agents, credit card companies, and employers provide travel insurance.

Understanding insurance:

Student Service's Guide on Food and Shopping in Calgary

Student Service's Guide to Setting up Your Mobile/Cell Phone 

Avenue Calgary also has two lists around obtaining groceries:

City of Calgary's Community Food Resources 

Student Service's guide to campus, biking, transit, driving, taxis and Uber

UPass: A UCalgary UPass allows full-time PGME trainees to have unlimited access to Calgary Transit services. All eligible trainees can access their UPass directly on their mobile devices through the My Fare app, available on Google Play (Android) or the App Store (iOS).

PGME Trainees will be required to Opt-In to UPass which will cover Calgary Transit for 4 months. The Opt-In option is in your Student Centre, under "My Financials". A detailed job aid is available.

Both the University of Calgary's Main Campus as well as Foothills Campus have gyms that can be access with a membership or day fee. 

Limited Access Memberships: A special membership option for medical residents to access the Foothills Campus' two gyms (Kinetix Fitness and HSC gym) for a discounted rate of under $10 a month.

Visit Tourism Calgary's website for a constantly-updating list of events each month! Or look at their list of 100 Things To Do In And Around Calgary, separated by category to help find what you're interested in!

PFSP has a program called P4P (Physicians for Physicians) where they will help those who call the Assistance Line to a family physician who has agreed to participate in the P4P program.

The Province of Alberta and Alberta Health Services also has the Find a Doctor website to assist those in search for an available family physician.

Check out numbeo's Cost of Living database for Calgary and other cities.

Student Services' Guide to Banking in Canada

Student Services' Guide to Taxes in Canada

While it does get cold and snowy in the winter, it is expected that people will still go out and conduct their daily activities as usual. It is very rare for services to shut down due to excessive cold or snow. Check out the City of Calgary's website for updates on snow and "Snow Emergency" event declarations.

Activities in Winter

Check out Tourism Calgary's list of winter activities:

Driving in Winter

Check out Transport Canada's guide on driving safely in winter.

Dressing for Winter

Check out Avenue Calgary's guide on how to dress for winter when you're out and about.

Are you dealing with a crisis situation? Or have confidential matters to discuss? Or concerns around mistreatment or maintaining work/life balance?

Check out the 'Who do I contact?' sheet: it maps who you can contact and the supports you have in these situations.

We have developed a Parenting in Residency Guide. You can help future parents in residency by completing this short survey

Listed are the Lactation room locations at the 5 Calgary hospitals

  • Information about whether there is a sink, fridge, and furniture for each lounge can be found on the AHS intranet available to employees.

You can also access the Family Planning for Canadian Physicians website.

Listed are the Multi-Faith Locations at the 5 Calgary Hospitals.  

The University of Calgary works with chaplains and faith representatives from a myriad of traditions. They are here to provide spiritual/religious support and crisis support to the UCalgary community regardless of their beliefs or outlook. Many faith representatives/chaplains also engage in building communal opportunities for gathering, worship, growth and reflection. The UCalgary faith representatives have agreed to include residents in their support. You can read about the Faith Representatives and connect with them.

UCalgary residents in the past year collected their favourite recipes in a Cookbook made for other UCalgary residents

We have also listed resources on managing and maintaining a healthy diet during residency.

Transition to practice:  

Specialty-specific:

  • The Canadian Medical Association profiles each medical specialty, including information such as workload, income and satisfaction, educational requirements, supply, and demographics. 
  • The Association of American Medical Colleges has an online self-assessment tool that incorporates your interests, values, skills, and personality to provide information about planning your medical career. 
  • The College of Family Physicians of Canada offers similar career resources for ‘The First Five Years’. 

PGME offers a number of awards and grants available to medical trainees.

The ORAPW personally administers the Dr. Marnie Hinton Resident Wellness Award. If there is a resident that is improving the health and wellness within your program, we would encourage you to nominate them for the award.

Listed are the Gender Neutral Changerooms for the 5 Calgary hospitals.

Program Directors and Program Administrators listed their tips on supporting Residents' wellbeing

Residents also listed their tips on supporting their fellow Residents' wellbeing

The University of Calgary has a number of on-campus offices that are available to medical trainees as support:

Directors of Resident Support (DRS): a confidential resource who can listen, support, and guide a resident on a variety of topics, including mistreatment, conflict in the workplace or personal struggles.

Advocacy and Accountability around Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: a list of supports if you are experiencing experiencing harm, violence, discrimination, or harassment.

Sexual and Gender Based Violence Office: if you have been impacted by sexual and gender-based violence, the SGBV Office can connect you with services, inform you of your rights, talk through your options, or just listen. 

UCalgary Recovery Community: The UCRC is an inclusive, peer-driven space supporting all pathways to recovery, building community, and reducing addiction stigma on campus.

Faith and Spirituality Centre: a space dedicated to encouraging cultural and religious literacy, community building, and social change; offering religious events and multi-faith spaces 

Indigenous Health Program: an initiative by the Indigenous, Local and Global Health Office committed to supporting Indigenous learners and confronting the issues faced by Indigenous people both in the healthcare system and in our own institution.

Centre for Mindfulness​: drop-in mindfulness with gentle guidance provided.

PGME Learner Support Office: the first stop to getting information on how to go about supporting learners through times of struggle or difficulty

The UCalgary's Women's Resource Centre has a Searchable Resource Database that has an extensive list of City-wide services that can help support you.

The ORAPW is working to fulfill Wellness Accreditation Standards with our offerings.