FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Deans of Medicine Lead Charge to Increase Resident Match Success Rate for Graduates of Canadian Medical Schools
OTTAWA, February 13, 2018 – Immediate attention is required to address the growing number of Canadian medical students who are unable to match to a residency and then practice medicine. In 2009 the number of unmatched was 11, in 2017 it was 68. By 2021 the number of current year unmatched students is projected to exceed 140, while prior year unmatched will exceed 190.
“Deans of Medicine across Canada are committed to doing everything we can to improve the match rate of qualified graduates of Canadian medical schools,” says Dean Michael Strong, Chair, Board of Directors at AFMC.
The AFMC report – Reducing the Number of Unmatched Canadian Medical Graduates: A Way Forward – outlines the factors leading to the increasing number of unmatched CMGs and provides concrete recommendations to increasing support to, and reducing the number of CMGs. Work is now underway to implement recommendations of this report, much of which can be put in place in time for the match cycle starting July 2018.
“Not only is ensuring successful careers for all our students what faculties should do,” states Dr. Geneviève Moineau, President and CEO, AFMC, “it is our duty to society to ensure that public funding supporting the training of each medical student actually leads to a practicing physician who can provide care to Canadians.”
About AFMC
The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) represents the country’s 17 faculties of medicine and is the national voice for academic medicine. Our organization was founded in 1943 and functions to support individually and collectively Canada’s medical schools through promotion of medical education, research, and clinical care.
Contact:
Marie-Hélène Urro, Communications Coordinator, Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada | communications@afmc.ca | 613-730-0443
