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About the CFMS
The CFMS is an organization representing over 8,000 medical students from 15 Canadian medical student societies from coast to coast. We represent medical students to the public, to the federal government, and to national and international medical organizations.
PRESS RELEASE: Medical Students Meet with Members of Parliament to Advocate for Improved Residency match Rates
April 30, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Medical Students Meet with Members of Parliament to Advocate for Improved Residency Match Rates

ATTACHMENTS:

  1. Health Human Resources Planning Advocacy Summary Document EN
  2. Health Human Resources Planning Advocacy Summary Document FR

OTTAWA, Tuesday, April 30th, 2019 – Members from the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) are in Ottawa today to meet with Members of Parliament, policy advisors, and Senators to discuss concrete actions to decrease the number of unmatched Canadian medical graduates.

Unmatched Canadian medical graduates (uCMGs) are Canadian medical students students who are not offered residency positions, and therefore cannot complete the required medical training  to practice as a licensed physician. Over the past decade the number of Canadian medical students who are unsuccessful in matching to a residency program has risen sharply, in large part due to a decreasing ratio of available residency positions to Canadian medical student applicants per year.  In 2018 there were 115 current-year unmatched medical graduates after both iterations of the R-1 Main Residency Match.

This year, for the first time since 2015, the number of uCMGs declined, with 67 current-year students left without a residency spot. In 2018/2019 a number of interventions were put in place to aid the Canadian match. Some of these strategies include a one-time increase in residency spots in Ontario, and the separation of Canadian and international medical graduate eligible residency positions in the second iteration in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. There was also reallocation of some international medical graduate residency spots to Canadian medical graduates in Saskatchewan, and the creation of additional residency spots by New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and the Canadian Armed Forces.

While the CFMS is cautiously optimistic with the reduction of uCMGs, we continue to advocate for all Canadian medical students and work toward sustainable, long-term solutions required for a continued decrease in the number of uCMGs in the coming years.  As such we call on provincial, territorial and federal governments to:

  1. Commit to strong and meaningful national leadership for effective, responsive, and transparent health human resource planning that meets the healthcare needs of all Canadians.
  2. Commit to a pan-Canadian strategy for effective and socially-responsible physician and health workforce resource planning that is evidence-based and transparent to both medical trainees and the public.
  3. Commit to work between governments (federal, provincial, territorial) to maintain residency training spots for Canadian graduates during the second iteration of the match process, and create additional residency positions to achieve a ratio of 120 Canadian residency seats for every 100 Canadian medical graduates.

About the CFMS

Founded in 1977 by Canadian medical students, today 41 years later the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) represents over 8,400 medical students at 15 medical schools across Canada. Under our 2017-2022 Strategic Operations & Human Resources Plan, the CFMS represents medical students to the public, the federal government, and national and international medical organizations. As the national voice of Canadian medical students, the CFMS are tomorrow’s physicians leading for health today with the aim to connect, support, and represent its membership as they learn to serve patients and society.

www.cfms.org

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @CFMSFEMC

For more information:

Victoria Januszkiewicz, Vice-President Communications

Canadian Federation of Medical Students

Email: [email protected]

Cell: 1-506-461-4683

Adel Arezki, Quebec Representative

Canadian Federation of Medical Students

Email: [email protected]

Cell: 1-438-498-6313

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