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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: CFMS Strongly urges Government of Canada to Provide Sustainable Solutions to Canadian Medical Graduates Unable to Secure a Residency Training Position
May 29, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canadian Federation of Medical Students Strongly Urge the Government of Canada to Provide Sustainable Solutions to Canadian Medical Graduates Unable to Secure a Residency Training Position

OTTAWA, May 29, 2018 – The Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) remains deeply concerned about the increasing numbers of medical graduates unable to secure a residency training position. Canada continues to struggle with a lack of a proper and effective system for physician resource and health workforce planning. Representatives of the CFMS will be meeting with Members of Parliament today to continue to advocate on behalf of medical trainees on this issue that impacts the health human resources for the care of Canadians.

This year, 115 new graduates from Canadian medical schools did not match to a Canadian residency position and therefore are unable to practice as physicians. The most significant contributing factor to the growing unmatched Canadian medical graduate crisis is the decreasing ratio of available residency positions to Canadian medical student applicants per given year.

Residency positions are provincially funded, hosted by universities and delivered in hospitals and clinics. However, medical students apply to residency positions through an integrated Canada-wide system facilitated by the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS), thus creating significant flow across provincial borders. The unmatched Canadian medical graduate crisis is therefore a Canada-wide problem requiring a Pan-Canadian solution.

The Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) calls on the federal and provincial and territorial governments to:

  1. Work with the provinces and territories to create and fund residency positions to achieve a ratio of 120 Canadian residency seats for every 100 Canadian medical graduates.

  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. Discuss the issue of unmatched Canadian medical graduates and proper physician resource planning at a federal provincial-territorial health ministers meeting.

The rise in unmatched medical graduates diminishes the number of medical personnel available to serve patients across the country. As a complex, inter-provincial system, tackling this issue requires collective action on the part of our parliamentarians, ministries and medical faculties. There is a strong need for coordinated action and health human resource planning to solve this crisis; without provincial coordination, such issues will only continue to grow.

QUOTATIONS FROM CFMS:

“We look forward to working with the federal government as well as the provincial and territorial health ministers to create pan-Canadian solutions to the current physician resource planning concerns in the country - specifically the unmatched Canadian Medical Graduate crisis.”

“We respect and appreciate the efforts of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC), Canadian Medical Association (CMA), Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS), and others that have continued to bring light to this issue for a multifaceted approach to solutions. We are appreciative of the support of the Canadian Armed Forces to provide additional residency training spots, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to provide residency training spots to this year’s Ontario unmatched students. These patchwork solutions are important however, longer term solutions need to be fulfilled by our federal and provincial and territorial governments to ensure a sustainable approach to ensuring all qualified Canadian medical graduates can provide care to Canadians that need it.”

ABOUT THE CFMS:

The Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) is the national organization representing over 8,000 medical students at 15 medical schools across Canada. Tomorrow’s physicians leading for health today.

www.cfms.org

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @CFMSFEMC

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Christina Schweitzer, Vice-President Communications

Canadian Federation of Medical Students

Email: [email protected]

Cell: 1-587-225-8165

PDF Press Release: [CFMS Strongly Urges Government of Canada to Provide Sustainable Solutions to Canadian Medical Graduates Unable to Secure a Residency Training Position](/CFMS Press Release_ Unmatched Canadian Medical Graduate_290518.pdf)

[MP Handout Document](/CFMS uCMG MP Handout May 29.pdf)

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