Selection Process

Rural Selection Forms:   Close Proximity Site Request Form / Enhanced Rural Training Application Form

Please see the Chart of Priority and Time Line below for information on when your site can apply.

    1. Kelowna Rural and Northern Rural residents (hereafter referred to as Rural Residents) who must do 8 blocks of Rural Rotation will have first priority for selecting rural teaching practices. The selection process will start in mid October.  Please refer to the Kelowna site for procedure and timeline.
    2. Residents NOT from Kelowna Rural or Northern Rural Sites (hereafter referred to as non-Rural residents) can apply to do an additional 2 blocks of Enhanced Rural training. These additional blocks can be done consecutively or separately from the mandatory 2 blocks.  Residents must submit an Enhanced Rural Training Application to the Program by November 6, 2023.  Approval will depend on the availability of sites.  The match for Enhanced Rural rotations will be randomized in the same way as the general match.  Expenses for Enhanced Rural rotations completed at an RSA community within BC will be eligible through REAP Postgraduate Rural Elective Support Program
    3. Coastal, Indigenous site, Kelowna Regional and Okanagan South residents (who elect to do their 4 blocks of rural consecutively in one rural site), as well as residents approved for Close Proximity and Enhanced Rural training with 4 consecutive blocks will be given second priority after the rural residents have confirmed their selection. Coastal residents must select their rural teaching practice from approved communities within Vancouver Coastal region.
    4. Residents who are unable to leave their home site for personal reasons must speak to their Site Director and obtain approval to go to a “close proximity” training practice.  These sites are very limited in number, and will only be allotted to those who are in dire need. A Close Proximity Site Request Form must be submitted by November 6, 2023. If approved, the resident will be given second priority and will enter the match according to the timeline below.
    5. Residents must participate in the match to complete a rural family practice rotation in one of the approved rural teaching practices. Exceptions are residents from regionally distributed rural sites (Fort St. John, Terrace, Kootenay Boundary and Strathcona).  These residents do not need to participate in the match since their primary training is done in a rural community or their site has dedicated rural sites for training.
    6. The availability of rural teaching practices for general match will be available to all residents as soon as possible.
    7. Residents must not contact preceptors individually. All scheduling must be coordinated through the Program.
    8. Non-rural residents must book their 2 month rotation in the following blocks: 1 to 2, 3 to 4, 5 to 6, 7 to 8, 9 to 10, or 11 to 12 unless the schedule allows for otherwise. Rotations for 4 months block must be booked so that no single vacant block is left before or after the rotation (Example, you may pick block 3-6, but you cannot pick block 2-5 leaving block 1 unfillable).
    9. Accommodation exceeding $1400/month must be pre-approved by the Postgraduate Dean’s Office with a minimum of eight weeks notice. The monthly maximum reimbursement rate $1,400/month will be treated as equivalent to a single rotation (28 days), and pro-rated for any duration less than 26 days or greater than 31. Please send requests to – pgme.mandatedhousing@ubc.ca.
    10. In sites where PGME housing is available (Cranbrook, Gibsons, Grand Forks, Nelson, Pemberton, Powell River, Salmon Arm, Saltspring, Sechelt/Sechelt-Wilson Creek, Smithers), no accommodation expense will be reimbursed if you are assigned to the leased housing.
    11. After the match is finalized in January, changes to rural placements can only be made in extenuating circumstances and must be approved by Site Director and Program Director.

Chart of Priority and Timeline

PriorityGroupsMatch OpensDeadline
1•Kelowna Rural
•Northern Rural
(8 blocks rural FP)
Oct 23, 2023Nov 6, 2023
Application for Enhanced Rural Nov 6, 2023
Application for Close Proximity Site Nov 6, 2023
2•Kelowna Regional
•Coastal
•Indigenous Site
•Okanagan South (if doing 4 consecutive blocks in one site)
•Residents approved for Enhanced Rural (4 consecutive blocks in one site)
•Close Proximity Requests		Nov 13, 2023Nov 24, 2023
3•Okanagan South (if doing non-consecutive blocks)
•Fort St. John (if participating – see point 5 above)
•Terrace (if participating – see point 5 above)
•Strathcona (if participating – see point 5 above)
•St. Paul’s
•St. Paul’s IMG
•Surrey South Fraser
•Vancouver Fraser
•Victoria
•Abbotsford
•Chilliwack
•Kamloops
•Nanaimo
•Prince George (other than Northern Rural)
•Residents approved for Enhanced Rural (non-consecutive)
(2 blocks Rural FP)		Dec 4, 2023Jan 2, 2024

Process for Kelowna Rural & Northern Rural Residents

Kelowna Rural and Northern Rural residents have an internal matching process, beginning on Rural Selection Day in October as per Kelowna Site’s policy.

Process for Residents who want to do Enhanced Rural training

Residents need to complete an application for Enhanced Rural Training (link at top of page).  The application must be approved by the Site Director and submitted online by November 6, 2023.  The request will be reviewed and residents will be notified before the selection takes place.  Residents approved for doing 4 consecutive blocks of Rural training will go into the Enhanced Rural match, residents doing 2 separate blocks of Rural training will participate in the general match and be matched to 2 separate rural placements based on their requests.

Process for General Match

  1. Rural rotation schedule will be available online for all residents to view when the match opens Dec 4, 2023.
  2. Residents will be asked to submit their preferred community and dates for their mandatory rural family practice rotation through an online selection form.
  3. Residents should select as many different practice locations as possible, but a minimum of 5 communities and 3 different time slots should be submitted. If choices are influenced by extenuating circumstances, residents should include details of their situation for consideration.
  4. Where multiple clinics exist in a community, it is up to the program to assign the resident to any of the clinics within the community. Residents can indicate their preference for a specific clinic or preceptor, but there is no guarantee that they will get it.
  5. Residents who want to stay in a community of close proximity due to special circumstances are required to submit a Close Proximity Site Request. Refer to Priority Chart.
  6. Residents will be matched to the rural practices at random. The program will make the best attempt to match the site and rotation time based on the order of ranking requested by the resident.
  7. Residents will be notified of their rural placements by end of January.
  8. If none of the resident’s choices can be accommodated, the resident will be contacted by the program and asked to choose from the remaining practices.
  9. If a resident does not submit a list or misses the deadline, they can only choose from the remaining practices after all residents are matched

Match Day

Residents will be notified of their rural rotations dates and location by end of Jan 2024.  Unfilled vacancies after the general match will be circulated to all residents who will have 72 hours to choose an alternate placement prior to the match being finalized.