Brandon Satellite Residency Program celebrates recent graduates: Looks ahead to 2026-2027 year
Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) continues its strong partnerships with University of Manitoba residency programs within the health region. Since 2013, the Brandon Satellite Program has been providing exceptional opportunities for physicians to train in rural settings. This has greatly increased the number of physicians who, once graduating, continue to practice in rural and more remote communities.
Associate Dean Dr. Joanne Maier says the Brandon Satellite Program continues to grow and evolve.
“Three of our programs— two postgraduate and one undergraduate— are based almost entirely in Brandon. This includes a two-year family medicine residency, a five-year psychiatry residency and a one-year longitudinal clerkship (third year of medical school with clinical rotations). There is a hybrid five-year anesthesia residency, which includes a portion of the training in Brandon, plus an Enhanced Skills in Emergency Medicine (CCFP-EM) program which provides an additional year of training in emergency medicine.
“We have many visiting medical students, residents and physician assistant trainees doing a variety of rotations here throughout the year. We also provide MLPIMG assessments and support the Neepawa and Parkland programs for some of their specialty rotations.”
Five Satellite Program residents graduated in June. Below is where they are currently providing service as of Aug. 2026.
-Dr. Andres Garcia Fiola (doing Palliative residency in Winnipeg),
-Dr. Emma Gervin (doing locum work within Prairie Mountain Health),
-Dr. John Ibanga (Locum work in PMH)
-Dr. Elena Vaz (Locum work in PMH)
-Dr. Derek Harris (working with PMH Medical Services on practice opportunities).
As well as two CCFP-Emergency Medicine residents graduated in 2026.
-Dr. Cimon Song – (Working in Brandon ER)
-Dr. Fadi Bahodi – (Locum work in PMH)
Five students moved on to Med IV and matched to family medicine and surgery programs in various Manitoba communities this year, including Brandon, Portage and Winkler.
September 2026 Program Update
Looking ahead to this year, six incoming Med 3 students begin in September, and five students will be done their Med 3 at the end of September.
There are 13 residents in the year 1 & 2 family medicine programs and two entering year 3 of their family medicine residency-Emergency Medicine.
There are 10 psychiatric residents ranging from year one to year five and one anaesthesia resident, entering year four of residency.
Program awards and accolades
On May 27th, the Brandon Satellite Program held its annual Faculty Appreciation and Graduation event at the Backyard on Aberdeen.
Residents, students and staff alike wish the graduates all the best as they continue on in their next career chapters.
Clinical Teaching Awardswere presented to their respective preceptors.
The 2026 recipients were:
- Dr. Jason Kilimnik (chosen by the Medical Students).
- Dr. Brian Bookatz (chosen by the Family Medicine residents); and
- Dr. Joel Braun (chosen by the Psychiatry residents).
Congratulations to these and all the preceptors for your time and dedication to teaching.