Interior - Psychiatry

University of British ColumbiaInterior, British ColumbiaCompetitive RoS stream

Program websiteWebsite CANPREPPCANPREPPContacts

CaRMS program description, 2027 match, last approved 4 Sep 2026 · See the 2026 version

2027 match programs, from CaRMS as of 5 Oct 2026. Programs can still change until file review opens 26 November; we re-check every two weeks. Always confirm on CaRMS (opens in a new tab).

Positions (approx. quota): 1 position
Length: 5 years
Stream: Competitive RoS
Discipline: Psychiatry
Applications per year: 51–200
Applicants offered interviews: 51–75%
Accreditation: Accredited
CaRMS program ID: 35485

Bands are 5-year averages the program reports to CaRMS. They describe past cycles, not your odds.

Summary

This is a 5-year UBC psychiatry residency track based in BC's Southern Interior, centred at Kelowna General Hospital.
Training also occurs at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops and Penticton Regional Hospital.
Residents attend academic days mostly by videoconference and travel to Vancouver monthly for in-person seminars.
The stream carries a return-of-service obligation to be completed in B.C. outside the City of Vancouver.

Training

Setting

Regional community

Sites

5 teaching sites

Kelowna General Hospital
Royal Inland Hospital
Penticton Regional Hospital

Show all 5

Hillside Centre
South Hills Centre

Distributed across a region

Rural exposure

Optional rural rotation

Research

Required · research or quality-improvement project · protected time

Highlights

Rotations at Kamloops tertiary centres for neuropsychiatry and psychosocial rehabilitation (Hillside and South Hills Centres).
Interior residents join academic days remotely and travel to Vancouver once a month for in-person seminars.

By year

PGY-1

Psychiatry2 additional blocks
Internal Medicineone block
Selectivestwo blocks
Family Medicine
Pediatrics
Neurology
Emergency Medicine
Addictions
Emergency Psychiatry
Elective

PGY-2

Adult Inpatient6 months
Adult Outpatient6 months

PGY-3

Child & Adolescent Psychiatry6 months
Geriatric Psychiatry6 months

PGY-4

Consultation-Liaison3 months
Chronic Care6 months, minimum 2 days per week
Addiction Psychiatry6 weeks, sometimes longitudinally
Emergency Psychiatry6 weeks

PGY-5

Selectives6 months, no less than 3 months per rotation
Electives6 months, no less than 2 months per rotation

From the program's rotation list.

Other rotations

Listed by the program without a single PGY year.

Transition to Discipline (Transition to Discipline · First month of PGY1)
General Medical and required Psychiatry Rotations (Foundations)

Selection

Application file components

CV
Electives
Examinations
Extra-curricular
Leadership skills
MSPRs
Personal letters
Reference documents
Research/Publications
Transcripts
Other file component(s)

Return of service

Required · this stream

IMG requirements

Assessment by a provincial clinical assessment program

Applications per year

51–200

Applicants offered interviews

51–75%

Interviews

Dates (2027 match)

19, 26 and 27 Jan 2027

Mode

Virtual

Format

Traditional (one on one/two on one)
Panel
MMI or rotating station

Programs can change interview dates. Confirm on carms.ca.

Pay

Provincial scale, last updated 2 Sep 2026 · check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Salaries from April 2027.

Annual salary by PGY level, British Columbia
Level	Annual salary
PGY-1	$71,390 / year
PGY-2	$79,571 / year
PGY-3	$86,655 / year
PGY-4	$93,230 / year
PGY-5	$100,215 / year

One provincial scale for British Columbia, set by the resident agreement, so every program there pays the same. Showing the 5 levels this program covers.

Benefits

Benefits as listed by CaRMS in 2022–2024; check the current agreement(opens in a new tab)

Annual vacation: 4 weeks
CMPA dues paid: Yes. Mandatory
Dental plan: 100% Premiums Paid
Educational leave: Yes
Extended health insurance: 100% Premiums Paid
Frequency of calls: 1 in 4 onsite/1 in 3 offsite
Life insurance: 100% Premium Paid
Long-term disability insurance: Yes 100% Premiums Paid
Maternity leave: 17 weeks, plus up to 78 weeks Parental Leave
Meal allowance: No
Provincial dues (% of salary): 1.5%
Provincial health insurance: 100% Premiums Paid
Sick leave: Yes
Statutory holidays: 2 x pay plus extra day with pay

Call

Call (provincial max): 1 in 4 in-house

The union agreement’s cap for all residents in the province; your program’s actual call schedule may be lighter. Check with the program.

RDBC agreement, 1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2029.

Teaching sites

Kelowna General Hospital (Kelowna)
Royal Inland Hospital (Kamloops)
Penticton Regional Hospital (Penticton)
Hillside Centre (Kamloops)
South Hills Centre (Kamloops)

Hospital facts

Public figures for hospitals named above, each with its source and reference period. They describe the hospital, not the program, and are not a ranking. We match names to the province’s lists by name, so check each source before you rely on it.

Kelowna General Hospital

Matched to Kelowna General Hospital (Kelowna) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 15,707 All procedure groups, for the fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). Scheduled surgery only: emergency surgery is not in the file.
Elective surgeries completed, 2026/27 Q1: 4,090 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

Royal Inland Hospital

Matched to Royal Inland Hospital (Kamloops) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 10,812 All procedure groups, for the fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). Scheduled surgery only: emergency surgery is not in the file.
Elective surgeries completed, 2026/27 Q1: 2,914 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

Penticton Regional Hospital

Matched to Penticton Regional Hospital (Penticton) in the province’s hospital list.

Elective surgeries completed, 2025/26: 3,482 All procedure groups, for the fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). Scheduled surgery only: emergency surgery is not in the file.
Elective surgeries completed, 2026/27 Q1: 837 One quarter (April to June), interim figures, all procedure groups. Scheduled surgery only.

Sources and licences

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia.

Unfilled positions in past years

No repeated vacancies in CaRMS’s lists of open positions, 2019–2026.

Positions at this site, all streams.

A position can go unfilled because of where the site is, because it is open to IMGs only or to another restricted stream, or because the quota changed late. It says nothing about the quality of the training. Verify with the CaRMS lists. Source: CaRMS’s lists of positions open after round 1 and after round 2, as read in October 2026 (latest: 2026 round 1 (CaRMS PDF, opens in a new tab), 2026 round 2 (CaRMS PDF, opens in a new tab)). A site’s numbers are shown when it had positions open after round 1 in at least 2 of 8 years or at least 3 in one year.

Contacts

Grouped by the titles CaRMS lists. The program office (administrators and coordinators) usually answers questions about the program and applying; the director leads the training.

Program officeadministrators and coordinators

PGE Psychiatry

PSInterior@interiorhealth.ca

Sara Summerfield · Program Coordinator

PGE Psychiatry

Ahsan Sahibzada
Manager, PGME Programs
ahsan.sahibzada@ubc.ca

Program director

Dr. Kenneth Heng

CaRMS lists no email for the director.

Site staffdirectors and coordinators at the teaching sites

PGE Psychiatry

Dr. Ryan Knebel
Interior Track Associate Program Director
Ryan.Knebel@interiorhealth.ca

Per CaRMS. Staff change during the cycle, so check the CaRMS program page(opens in a new tab) before emailing.

Location

Interior, British Columbia

Independent. Not affiliated with CaRMS or the program. Programs edit their descriptions during the match; confirm on carms.ca (opens in a new tab) before you apply. Data last updated on CdnMD 6 Oct 2026.