Trauma Fellowships
Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Fellowship - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre & St. Michael’s Hospital
- Number of positions: 4
- Duration: 1 year
- Type of Fellowship: Clinical; Operative
- Program: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre & St. Michael’s Hospital
Fellowship Director:
Najma AhmedMD, FRCSC
Division of General Surgery
St. Michael's Hospital
Trauma Medical Directors:
- Avery NathensMD, FRCSC, Division of General Surgery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Andrew Beckett, MD FRCSC, Division of General Surgery, St. Michael’s Hospital
Successful completion of the Trauma/Acute Care Surgery fellowship leads to an Areas of Focused Competence (AFC) in trauma general surgery designation (DRCPSC) with the Royal College. https://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/specialty-discipline-recognition/categories/discipline-recognition-areas-focused-competence-afc-programs-e
Duration: The University of Toronto offers a one year clinical Fellowship in Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. Successful applicants will rotate through Toronto’s two Level 1 trauma centres: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and St. Michael’s Hospital
www.stmichaelshospital.com
www.sunnybrook.ca
Sites: Both St. Michael’s Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre have fully trained academic trauma/acute care surgery/critical care surgeons. The two sites work cooperatively to deliver tertiary and quaternary trauma, emergency and critical care to a catchment area of over eight million people, in addition to serving as the major referral sites for large parts of Northern Ontario. Together, St. Michael’s and Sunnybrook have over 1800 trauma team activations annually, making it the largest trauma program in Canada. Fellows will rotate between the two centres over the course of their Fellowship.
Responsibilities: Clinical responsibilities will involve leading resuscitations for the injured patient as the Trauma Team Leader, trauma and emergency surgery operative care, and overseeing patient care on a dedicated trauma and acute care surgery service. In addition, the Fellow is expected to be involved in the care of critically ill trauma and acute care surgery patients in either a 17 bed shared surgical intensive care unit (trauma, acute care, neuro-critical care) and 22 bed mixed medical/surgical ICU at St. Michael’s Hospital, or the mixed 20 bed medical/surgical critical care unit and 10 bed trauma/neuro unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
Fellows are expected to be involved in the teaching of medical students, residents, elective trainees and interdisciplinary staff, as well as presenting at trauma conferences, case teachings, rounds and at point of care. It is expected that fellows will be involved in formal educational programs including ATLS, DSTC, ASSET, Visiting Professorship and Trauma Research in Progress meetings. The trauma surgeons across both sites are involved in a wide variety of research activities ranging from clinical epidemiology, trauma systems, critical care, sepsis, education, simulation and quality improvement initiatives. It is expected that Fellows will complete at least one research project that is presented at an academic meeting during their fellowship.
Number of Fellowships: The University of Toronto Trauma Program accepts 3-4 well qualified applicants into the fellowship program each year. Certification as Fellow, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada (FRCSC) or equivalent training at an accredited training institution in general surgery is required. Fellows will receive full salary support that commensurate with the standard at the University of Toronto.
The deadline for applications is April 15th for the following July 1st start date.
Interested candidates should submit curriculum vitae, a letter of intent, a summary of a proposed scholarly or research project, and three letters of reference (that must come directly from their source) to:
Tammy Kowalyk (tammy.kowalyk@sunnybrook.ca), UofT Trauma, Program Coordinator
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Ave. Toronto, ON M4N 3M5
Salary: Fellows will receive full salary support that commensurate with the standard at the University of Toronto.
Trauma Resuscitation Fellowship -Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Number of positions: 2 annually - 1 Canadian Medical Graduate (CMG) and 1 International Medical Graduate IMG).
Duration: 1 year
Type of Fellowship: Clinical
Program: Tory Trauma Program - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Fellowship Co-Directors:
Luis Teodoro da Luz, MD, MSc; Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery
Bourke Tillman, MD, FRCPC; Department of Medicine, Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care
Fellowship Associate Director:
Winny Li, MD, FRCPC; Division of Emergency Medicine
Trauma Medical Director:
Avery Nathens, MD, FRCSC; Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery
Program Overview:
The Trauma Resuscitation Fellowship is an immersive, 12-month full-time clinical program focused on advanced training in trauma resuscitation, trauma critical care, and related disciplines including: burn resuscitation, prehospital medicine and emergency medicine. Upon completion, Fellows will have acquired the knowledge and skills to provide high-quality care to severely injured and critically ill patients in a variety of clinical settings. Fellows will also develop additional expertise in education, quality improvement, health system design, and simulation.
The Trauma Resuscitation Fellowship is offered through two distinct streams:
- Canadian Medical Graduate (CMG) Stream: Open to Canadian emergency medicine residents in their final year of specialty training (PGY5) in a Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada–accredited program (RCPSC).
- International Stream: Open to self-funded or sponsored international trainees who have completed an equivalent specialty training program in emergency medicine.
Positions and Location:
One CMG and one international fellowship position is available annually. The CMG Fellow will start in July, and the IMG Fellow will start in January.
Fellows will complete their clinical training at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center (SHSC) in Toronto, Ontario. The Tory Trauma Program (TTP) at SHSC the first hospital in Canada to be accredited by the American College of Surgeons as a level 1 Trauma Center and is also the largest Level 1 Trauma Center and Burn Center in Canada. We see approximately 2,000 trauma team activations annually, 4,000 critical care admissions (106 critical care beds), and 350 burn admissions each year. TTP provides quaternary care to a catchment area of over 8 million people and serves as a major referral site for large parts of Southern Ontario.
The TTP also works closely with Ornge, Ontario’s air ambulance service, which conducts more than 4,000 critical care transports annually. SHSC is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto and hosts a full complement of trainees across surgical specialties, emergency medicine, critical care and anaesthesia.
The Emergency Department at Sunnybrook sees an annual volume of 57,000 patients and serves as a regional referral center for diverse specialties, including stroke, Odette Cancer Center, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, neurosurgery, vascular, spine surgery and high-risk maternal/neonatal care. Sunnybrook is also one of eight regional Base Hospitals in Ontario and provides medical direction for over 2000 paramedics, 3000 firefighters and other first aid responders in Ontario.
Responsibilities
Fellows will be fully integrated within the Tory Trauma Program and will rotate through trauma, critical care, and burn services, with additional exposure to prehospital medicine at Ornge and emergency medicine. Longitudinally throughout the clinical year, the Fellow will also gain clinical exposure as Sub–Trauma Team Leader, working alongside a Staff Trauma Team Leader, and will assume responsibility for the initial resuscitation and management of critically injured patients.
Fellows will contribute to teaching medical students, residents, elective trainees, and interdisciplinary staff, and will participate in quality improvement rounds, Trauma Team Video Review (TTVR), in situ simulations, and other educational opportunities. Fellows will have access to structured learning opportunities as students—and if eligible, as instructors—for Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), and Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) courses.
Each Fellow is expected to complete at least one research project and one quality improvement project, with the goal of presenting their work in an academic forum.
Sample Yearly Rotation Schedule (13 Blocks)
The Fellowship spans 13 blocks (approximately 4 weeks each), distributed as follows:
- Trauma Service – 4 blocks
- Intensive Care Unit – 3 blocks
- Burn Intensive Care Unit – 1-2 blocks
- Prehospital Medicine (Ornge) – 1 block
- Emergency Medicine – 1-3 blocks (for CMG applicants - based on EM program training requirements)
- Elective – 1 block (flexibility to seek additional exposure in Pediatric Emergency Medicine, core training rotations, or areas of individual interest, to be discussed and approved with program directors)
Salary
There is no hospital funding for this position.
- Canadian Medical Graduate Stream: Fellows will continue to receive their resident salary through their home program.
- International Stream: Fellows are self-funded or sponsored and are responsible to secure their own financial support during the Fellowship year.
- Deadline for applications:
- Canadian Medical Graduate Stream: November 30, 2025 for the July 2026 intake.
- International Medical Graduate Stream: November 30, 2025 for the January 2027 intake.
Interested candidates should submit a curriculum vitae, a letter of intent, a summary of their proposed scholarly or research project, and three letters of reference sent directly to the Fellowship Directors listed below. International Medical Graduate (IMG) applicants must also provide a letter from their home institution confirming they will receive financial support if selected for the fellowship.
Dr. Luis da Luz (luis.daluz@sunnybrook.ca), Fellowship Co-Director and Dr. Winny Li (winny.li@sunnybrook.ca), Fellowship Associate Director.