SEME Barrie
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre became an official SEME expansion site in Spring 2025, after serving for several years as a valued elective rotation location for the core program. The site will host six physicians annually, divided into two cohorts—one in the fall and one in early spring. Known for its high-acuity environment, strong faculty engagement, and commitment to hands-on learning, RVH offers an exceptional training experience for SEME learners.
Barrie Site
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) serves Barrie and the surrounding region as a designated cardiac, stroke, and cancer centre. Its emergency department sees over 90,000 patient visits annually and functions as a Level 3 trauma centre. As an academic teaching site for the University of Toronto, RVH hosts a range of learners—though fewer than downtown hospitals—allowing for more hands-on opportunities, greater autonomy, and increased involvement in complex cases and procedures. The on-site simulation lab features both high- and low-fidelity mannequins, with further enhancements planned through the construction of a new education centre beginning in 2025. With strong specialist support, advanced diagnostics, and high patient volume, RVH offers an ideal setting to develop and refine practical emergency medicine skills.
Program Overview
The program consists of three 4 week rotations. A core compendium of 8 weeks of emergency medicine completed at Royal Victoria Hospital Emergency Department. Additional weeks will be spent in learner-selected relevant 2-4 week electives completed in program-approved specialties such as anesthesia or critical care. This vibrant community site affords the trainee a more representative experience of independent practice given the 1:1 staff-to-learner ratio on shift, small number of residents on consulting services, and staff-to-staff consultant discussions and interactions. Further, the intimacy of our site allows flexibility to tailor learning experiences and electives. RVH affords learners a rich experience of independent practice in one of Ontario’s diverse communities.
Academic Content
Learners will participate in a blended curriculum, spending the majority of their academic days at the Royal Victoria campus while interacting and engaging with SEME core site learners throughout their rotation; learners will complete a pre-rotation boot camp in Toronto with the SEME core site learners, developing a foundational knowledge of emergency department content. In addition to their clinical rotations, there will be 8 academic days spread throughout the 12-week intensive covering essential emergency medicine subject matter including ultrasound, resuscitation, procedural skills, and special population considerations. These academic days will be in person at RVH, allowing learners to work closely with content experts.
Clinical Evaluation
Learners will create individualised learning objectives and goals for their SEME rotations. Feedback will occur following each clinical shift and during academic sessions from preceptors. Routine mid-rotation and end-of-rotation feedback from mentors is used to ensure learners are meeting their goals, and tailor further learning as needed.
Mentorship
A mentor will be assigned to each learner prior to the start of their rotation; these mentors are there to guide the SEME learner from the very inception of their intensive until completion and beyond. Mentors are all RVH emergency medicine staff and have been selected based on their unique capabilities and expertise. Mentors will help learners create their objectives and goals and ensure that they are attained during their time with us. There will be multiple meetings with mentors throughout the program, at least once monthly, in addition to 1:1 shifts with their mentee throughout their ED rotations.
Program Completion
Requirements for program completion of the RVH SEME program include attendance during the 12 weeks of clinical rotation, participation in academic sessions and completion of course evaluation. The program is recognized for 256 hours towards practice eligibility for application to write the CAC-EM exam.
I opted to complete one of my SEME blocks in Barrie after hearing nothing but good things about it as a learning environment and it did not disappoint! The best part about Barrie is the dedication of the staff to helping learners get hands on experience—with fewer learners in the department, I would often get called over to other zones when there were good learning opportunities such as complex lacerations, codes, intubations, interesting ultrasound findings, nasopharyngeal scopes, central lines or fracture reductions (to name a few!). You can really tell that the staff want to push their learners and get them as involved as possible. The staff in Barrie are also incredibly knowledgeable and there were never any dumb questions. Staff exposed me to new scoring tools to help disposition patients, new evidence-based approaches to treating patients, and were full of useful clinical pearls on my shifts. One thing Barrie does very well is volume, and I think it's a great model for improving your ER flow if you're planning to work in a community site. Most importantly, the work environment is so collegial and supportive—even on the busiest shifts, the morale is high and the doctors, nurses and physician assistants all work together as a team. I truly enjoyed my time there and would recommend it to anyone looking for an excellent emergency medicine experience.
Dr. Erica Baines
During the SEME program, I had the opportunity to do a rotation in emergency medicine at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Center. The recently renovated RVH has a Cardiac Cath Lab and is a Stroke Centre which means prompt management of acute coronary syndrome and cerebrovascular presentations. The staff at RVH were very collegial, helpful and engaging. I worked along side a dynamic group of supportive emergency physicians who happy to provide teaching while allowing plenty of independence for motivated learners. During my time in Barrie, I spent a few days in anesthesia to practice airway management to complement my emergency medicine experience. I was able to target my experience to my specific learning objective with the support of my preceptors.
RVH is the ideal location for the self-directed learner who is proactive about their learning. There were only few learners on schedule during my rotation. We were scheduled in a way that allow of each individual to have hands on procedural experience and a good balance of resus, acute and fast-track shifts. I later returned to RVH to complete an ICU elective. It was a valuable and complementary experience. I was the only junior learner during that time and worked along an ICU fellow which enhanced my learning. The rotation had room for both rounding on admitted patient and participating in consultations. Overall, spending time at RVH help built core knowledge and experience in emergency medicine which I currently use during my practice.
BONUS: I’d like to note that there is also a well equipped gym accessible free of change for staff and learners alike. Barrie is right by Lake Simcoe, It was easy to enjoy a late afternoon paddle on the river from Johnson’s beach."