About Us

The Division of Respirology, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine resides within the Department of Medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan (USask), and the Saskatchewan Health Authority. 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.

There are 24 members (including one associate member) in Saskatoon; 17 active clinicians and seven scientists. The Division has two primary office locations: fifth floor, Ellis Hall; Royal University Hospital and Ave P. South. 

Regina’s seven respirologists provide a complete consultative service in respiratory medicine, including overseeing the delivery of complete diagnostic services in pulmonary function and cardiopulmonary exercise testing, sleep medicine, a pleural disease clinic for management of non-malignant and malignant pleural disease and advanced diagnostic bronchoscopy with limited interventions. Quaternary referrals to Saskatoon and out of province are made in select cases.

The division has a fully accredited Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada subspecialty training program in respirology and plays an integral role in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in the USask College of Medicine. 

The division provides a multitude of essential clinical programs and directs several clinical laboratories in Saskatoon. Many of these clinical programs and laboratories are unique provincial resources, including:

  • Interventional Respirology Program
  • Cystic Fibrosis Clinic
  • Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic
  • Saskatchewan Lung Transplant Program
  • Severe Asthma Clinic
  • Sleep-Disordered Breathing
  • Advanced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Clinics
  • Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic

In addition to the provision of clinical care and teaching, the division also undertakes, supervises and participates in a number of research programs.  The membership is actively involved in the USask Respiratory Research Centre. Division members collaborate with inter-professional colleagues and investigators within the Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, USask, as well as partners at academic institutions across Canada and beyond.

Program

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:

Monday 1600 - 1700 Seminar Series on all but the fourth Monday of the month
Pulmonary pathology rounds on the fourth Monday of the month
Tuesday 0800 - 0900 Respiratory Lecture Series
Wednesday 1100 - 1200 Chest Radiology Rounds
Wednesday 1200 - 1300 General Medicine Grand Rounds

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.

Research

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

Contact

Dr. Erika Penz
Division Head - Saskatoon 

Dr. Z. Belak
Division Head - Regina 

Leanne Wilkinson
Administrative Assistant
306-844-1135

 


Dr. Anderson Tyan, MD, MBBS, FRCPC
Program Director
Adult Respirology Training Program

Angela Loehndorf
Program Administrator
306-844-1483