Welcome!

The Division of Respirology, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine resides within the Department of Medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, and the Saskatoon Health Region. The Division promotes lung health through excellence in the provision of clinical services and patient care in the inpatient and outpatient settings, teaching and professional learning, research and scholarly activities, administration and leadership.

In Saskatoon, the Division has 23 members (including one associate member); 16 active clinicians and seven scientists. The Division has two primary office - Ellis Hall, RUH and Ave P. South. In Regina, the Division of Respiratory Medicine has 6 clinicians.  

The Division has a Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada certified Subspecialty Training Program in Respirology, and plays an integral role in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.  The Fellowship teaching Program has repeatedly received full accreditation from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. 

The Division provides a multitude of essential clinical programs, and directs numerous clinical laboratories in the Saskatoon Health Region.  Many of these clinical programs and laboratories are unique provincial resources, including:

• Interventional Respirology
• Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing
  and comprehensive care clinics in:
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Advanced Lung Disease/Transplantation
• Asthma
• Sleep-Disordered Breathing
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). 

In addition to the provision of clinical care and teaching, the Division also undertakes, supervises and participates in a number of research programs, and is actively involved in the University of Saskatchewan Airway's Research Group, co-supported by the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation.  Division members collaborate with inter-professional colleagues and other investigators in the College of Medicine and at the University of Saskatchewan, and also with research colleagues based at various academic institutions in Canada and elsewhere.

Adult Respirology Subspecialty Training Program

The Adult Respirology Subspecialty Training Program at the University of Saskatchewan is a two year core program which covers all areas of general respirology. The resident will gain solid clinical grounding and experience in managing both inpatient and outpatients with respiratory disease.  Our graduates have an exceptional pass record on the Royal College Certification Examination and have gone on to successful academic and community practice careers throughout Canada and the United States.

Year 1

• Focus on inpatient consultation and general respirology ambulatory clinics.
• No respiratory ward service.
• One month dedicated to learning technical aspects of performing and interpreting pulmonary function tests and clinical polysomnography
• One to two months of research time to plan research projects as well as to gain further experience in a potential area of interest
• One-month rotation in community-based respiratory medicine in Regina, usually in the first year or early part of the second year of training.

Year 2

• More flexible and intended to be customized to the resident’s particular needs.
• Continued exposure to both inpatient and outpatient general Respirology.
• Three month mandatory rotation in Critical Care Medicine to gain further experience in critically ill patients who have both pulmonary and non-pulmonary disease and provide a solid clinical correlation for pulmonary and general physiology.
• Subspecialty clinics, coordinated with multidisciplinary input, including:
  • Tuberculosis
  • Cystic Fibrosis
  • Pulmonary Hypertension
  • Advanced COPD
  • Lung Transplantation
• Tuberculosis outreach clinics provide an opportunity to visit remote northern Saskatchewan communities and learn about special health care challenges.
• A formal cardiopulmonary rehabilitation curriculum, where residents participate in the community-based rehabilitation services offered in Saskatoon. 
• Several months are available for research and elective time. Out of province elective time is permitted.

The weekly academic schedule runs from September through June and is as follows:

Quarterly academic half-days are jointly held with the other internal medicine subspecialty training programs, where ‘non-medical expert’ topics including ethics and professionalism will be addressed.

Several faculty members from the Department of Medicine are also members of the interdisciplinary Respiratory Research Centre. 

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