Response to letter to the editor “Re: ‘CaRMS at 50’”

We have read Mr. MacFarlane’s letter¹ in response to our paper, “CaRMS at 50: Making the match for medical education.”² The purpose of the article was to provide a retrospective of CaRMS’ five decades of service to the medical education community, and as such focused on the evolution of areas of the application, selection and match process that fall within CaRMS’ purview. The issues raised in Mr. MacFarlane’s letter—the policies governing match eligibility criteria and position streaming—are squarely outside of CaRMS’ domain and were therefore not addressed.

Canada’s postgraduate medical residency matching program is complex, and CaRMS is one of many organizations that work collaboratively in this space. As Mr. MacFarlane himself acknowledges, match eligibility criteria are set by the faculties of medicine and provincial Ministries of Health. CaRMS’ role is to administer a fair, objective, reliable and transparent application and matching service that operates within the bounds of this policy rubric.

While CaRMS’ role as an independent, impartial steward of the match precludes us from advocating on issues of policy, CaRMS is deeply committed to fairness and equity. These are the principles on which the organization was founded, and they remain our primary focus within our area of responsibility. CaRMS places the utmost importance on ensuring that the processes we administer are fair and transparent within the established policy context. The online application and match process itself (including the algorithm that determines match results) do not distinguish between different types of eligible applicants. CMGs, IMGs and USMGs all benefit from a common timetable and tool set, as well as the same client service resources and access points.

We are aware of and sympathetic to the concerns voiced regarding the challenges international medical graduates can face within the Canadian postgraduate residency application, selection and matching system. CaRMS is always eager and willing to be a part of meaningful conversations on matters of interest and concern to our partners throughout the medical education community—and this topic is no exception.