AN OVERVIEW OF YOUR 2016

R-1 MAIN RESIDENCY MATCH

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL GRADUATES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

R-1 Main Residency Match general overview................................................................................. 1

The Match Algorithm......................................................................................................................... 8
CaRMS Alert......................................................................................................................................10
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)...............................................................................................11
Help resources for applicants........................................................................................................13

This handout is designed to provide you with a general overview of the R-1 Main
Residency Match process. For more detailed information, please visit CaRMS.ca.

THE R-1 MATCH YEAR

GENERAL OVERVIEW
International medical graduates (IMGs)

The R-1 Main Residency Match (R-1 match) occurs in two phases, called iterations, each year.
If you go unmatched in the first iteration, you may apply to unfilled positions in the second
iteration of the match.

FIRST ITERATION
PHASE 1: APPLICATION PERIOD
On August 11, 2015, the online request for registration opens for international medical graduates. Visit CaRMS.ca and fill out a request for registration for the 2016 R-1 Main Residency
Match. If you participated in the 2013, 2014 or 2015 R-1 match, you do not need to register
again. You can log in and participate using your existing username and password when CaRMS
Online opens on September 2. Before completing a new registration, we recommend that you
review the detailed information on the R-1 match page to ensure you are eligible to participate.
On September 2 you will receive an email from CaRMS containing your unique link to access CaRMS Online, our secure, online application system that you will use throughout your
match year. If you already have an account, log in and participate. Once you have logged in,
you must pay a registration fee. Once you have paid your fee, you can begin completing your
application and uploading documents.
Program descriptions will also be available September 2 and can be found on our website,
CaRMS.ca. Descriptions are updated throughout the match year, so we encourage you to review them carefully and regularly to ensure that your application meets all the requirements.
During the application period, you should concentrate on completing the information sections and uploading or sending in your documents.

Applying to programs

On October 15, 2015, you can begin selecting the programs to which you wish to apply. Submitting an application to a program is a two-step process. First, select the programs of your
choice. Then, select the documents you wish to assign to those programs.
You do not have to apply to programs and assign documents all at once. This process can
be done gradually. However, you will want to have everything completed before the application deadline on November 19, 2015 so that your application is not considered late. We
recommend you thoroughly review program descriptions to ensure you are assigning all the
required documents.
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Milestones

CaRMS has established some recommended target dates to ensure your application is complete on time. These target dates are called milestones. Milestones are not deadlines. They
are guidelines designed to help you keep your application on track for timely completion.

Documents sent by mail

If you are sending any documents to CaRMS by mail, you should allow adequate time for
scanning and uploading. Extra documents and transcripts can also be uploaded directly to
your CaRMS Online account. Transcripts must be notarized or certified. The milestone for
documents that are sent by mail is October 19, 2015.

MCC

All Medical Council of Canada (MCC) examinations and documents should be shared in the
physiciansapply.ca section of your CaRMS Online application by November 12, 2015. This
will en- sure CaRMS has enough time to retrieve your scores and documents from the MCC
before file review begins on November 24, 2015.
We will only retrieve exam scores on your behalf from the MCC if you fill in the examinations section of your CaRMS Online application and authorize the transfer by clicking on
the acknowledgement checkbox. In addition, you must authorize the MCC to release this
information to CaRMS by sharing any/all of these documents with us through MCCs physiciansapply.ca service.
Finally, if you would like your statement of results and supplemental feedback reports to be
transferred, you must transfer them directly though CaRMS Online using your physiciansapply.ca account.
Please note: it is your responsibility to authorize both CaRMS and the MCC to share examination results and documents.

Translation requests and Medical School Performance Record (MSPR)

CaRMS oers a translation service for medical school transcripts, MSPRs and letters of
reference from English-to-French or French-to-English. If you are interested in using our
translation services, you must make the request in the Translation Requests section
through CaRMS Online by November 6, 2015. This will provide us with sucient time to
complete translation before le review begins. Each document must be uploaded before
we can coordinate the translation. CaRMS will continue to process translation requests
after the deadline; however, we cannot guarantee that they will be complete before le
review begins.

Your MSPR (also referred to as a Deans letter or letter of good standing) should be uploaded
to CaRMS Online or sent by mail to our Documents Centre by November 6, 2015.
Note: If you are submitting a letter of reference for translation, please advise your reference
provider that they need to send the document to CaRMS by November 6, 2015 to ensure the
translation is available in time.

Letters of reference

By November 20, 2015, you should have requested letters of reference from your chosen
referees. Once a request is sent to a referee, they have the choice to submit the letter online
via CaRMS Online or by mail to our Documents Centre. If referees choose to submit letters by
mail, we recommend that they be sent during this time to guarantee they will be processed
into your application in time. Letters of reference can be requested and submitted online until December 1, 2015 when letters of reference are unmasked. Programs do not have access
to letters of reference before this date.

Application and document assignment

For your application to be considered on time, you must apply to programs and assign all
required documents by November 20, 2015 at 16:00 ET. After this date and time, CaRMS
Online closes and you will not have access to your application until November 24, 2015 at
12:00 ET when le review begins and programs start reviewing applications.
All applications to programs and document assignments completed after le review begins
will be considered late. However, some programs will review late applications. This information can be found in program descriptions. Note: this does not apply to letters of reference.
Letters of reference are only considered late if assigned after December 1, 2015 at 12:00 ET.

PHASE 2: FILE REVIEW

On November 24, 2015 programs begin reviewing applications and documents that have
been submitted by applicants. CaRMS Online re-opens and you can continue to apply and/
or assign documents to programs. Note: all applications to programs and document assignments completed after le review begins will be considered late. All letters of reference will
remain masked until December 1, 2015 at 12:00 ET.

PHASE 3: INTERVIEWS
The designated interview period is from January 16 February 7, 2016. However, interviews
for international medical graduates are coordinated separately with no specific national time

period. Interviews are arranged between applicants and personnel in the program oce;
CaRMS is not involved in this process.

PHASE 4: RANKING
Ranking begins

On January 28, 2016 the ranking function opens for applicants in CaRMS Online and applicants can begin their rank order list (ROL).

Ranking deadline

The deadline to submit a rank order list is February 18, 2016 at 15:00 ET. Do not wait until
the last minute to enter and submit your rank order list. You must have your rank order list
SUBMITTED by this time or you will be automatically withdrawn from the match.

PHASE 5: MATCH RESULTS

On March 2, 2016 at 12:00 ET log into your CaRMS Online account to access your match
results. Unmatched applicants will receive information regarding the second iteration of the
R-1 match later that day.

SECOND ITERATION
The second iteration of the R-1 match follows many of the same phases as first iteration;
however, there are a few key differences.

PHASE 1: APPLICATION PERIOD

On January 7, 2016, the CaRMS Online application opens for second iteration. If you have
previously participated in the match, simply log into CaRMS Online using your existing username and password and participate in the second iteration of the match.
If you have not yet participated in the match, complete the second iteration request for registration on CaRMS.ca. Within three business days, you will receive an email from CaRMS containing your unique link to access CaRMS Online. Complete the brief registration, which includes paying a registration fee to participate in the second iteration of the R-1 match. Once
you have paid your fee, you can begin completing your application and uploading documents.
During the application period, you should concentrate on completing the information sections and uploading or sending in your documents.

Milestones

The second iteration operates on a compressed timeline there is less time to complete
each phase of the application process. Use the milestones in the match timeline to help keep
your application on track.
Keep in mind that CaRMS Online does close in preparation for file review from February 18
(16:00 ET) to March 4, 2016 (13:00 ET). You will not have access to your CaRMS online application during this time period.

MCC examinations

All your Medical Council of Canada (MCC) examination information should be entered into the
examinations section of your application on CaRMS Online by February 10, 2016 to ensure
your examination standings and scores are retrieved from the MCC before file review begins
on March 10. If you wish to have any MCC examination statement of results, supplemental
feedback reports, transcripts or diplomas transferred to CaRMS from your physciansapply.ca
account, the request should be made through CaRMS Online by February 10, 2016.

Translation requests

CaRMS oers a translation service for medical school transcripts, MSPRs and letters of reference from English-to-French or French-to-English. If you are interested in using our translation services, you must make the request in the Translation Requests section through CaRMS
Online by February 11, 2016. This will provide us with sucient time to complete translation
before le review begins. Each document needs to be in place before we can coordinate the
translation. CaRMS will continue to process translation requests after the deadline; however,
we cannot guarantee that they will be complete before le review begins.

Documents

If you are sending any documents to CaRMS by mail, you should allow adequate time for
scanning and uploading. Extra documents can also be uploaded directly to your CaRMS Online account. The document milestone is March 8, 2016. This milestone does not refer to
documents submitted online.
We will continue to process documents that arrive after this date; however, due to the high volume of documents received, we cannot guarantee they will be scanned before file review begins.

Applying to programs

In the second iteration of the R-1 match, most unfilled positions from the first iteration of
the match become competitive. This means that both CMGs and IMGs compete for the same
positions, which is not the case in first iteration.

On March 4, 2016 at 13:00 ET, you can begin selecting the programs to which you wish to
apply. All unfilled positions from the first iteration of the match will be available for application on this date.
Program applications are not carried over from first to second iteration. This means that if you
applied to a program in the first iteration that went unfilled after the match, you must re-apply
to that program if you wish to be considered by that program in the second iteration.
Submitting an application to a program is a two-step process. First, select the programs of
your choice. Then, select the documents you wish to assign to those programs.
You do not have to apply to programs and assign documents all at once. This process can
be done gradually. However, you will want to have everything completed before file review
begins on March 10, 2016 at 12:00 ET. We recommend you thoroughly review program descriptions to ensure you are assigning all the required documents.

Application and document assignment

For your application to be considered on time, you must apply to programs and assign all
required documents by March 9, 2016.
All applications to programs and document assignments completed after le review begins
on March 10, 2016 at 12:00 ET will be considered late. However, some programs will review
late applications. This information can be found in program descriptions.

PHASE 2: FILE REVIEW

On March 10, 2016 at 12:00 ET, programs begin reviewing applications and documents that
have been submitted by applicants.

PHASE 3: INTERVIEWS
There is no designated interview period in the second iteration interviews can be scheduled at any time during the match.

PHASE 4: RANKING
Ranking begins

On March 17, 2016 the ranking function opens for applicants in CaRMS Online and applicants can begin their rank order list (ROL).

Ranking deadline
The deadline to submit a rank order list is March 31, 2016 at 15:00 ET. Do not wait until the
last minute to enter and submit your rank order list. You must have your rank order list SUBMITTED by this time or you will be automatically withdrawn from the match.

PHASE 5: MATCH RESULTS

On April 12, 2016 at 12:00 ET log into your CaRMS Online account to access your match
results.

Need help?
We have bilingual, full-time help desk sta available to answer questions throughout
the match year. Contact the CaRMS help desk at help@carms.ca or 1.877.227.6742.

THE MATCH ALGORITHM

CaRMS uses a globally recognized and award-winning algorithm to match students into postgraduate medical training programs throughout Canada. The Match Algorithm is licensed
from the Canadian-based National Matching Services Inc. (NMS) and has been used to conduct medical residency matches in North America for over 50 years. CaRMS first used a computerized Match Algorithm process to conduct the R-1 Main Residency Match (R-1 match)
in 1985.
Since that time, it has been used to conduct the R-1 match, as well as our three subspecialty matches: Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine Match, Medicine Subspecialty Match and
Pediatric Subspecialty Match. The Match Algorithm, known as the Roth-Peranson algorithm,
was designed by Alvin Roth and NMS President Elliott Peranson and was key to Roth winning
the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2012.

HOW DOES THE MATCH ALGORITHM WORK?

The Match Algorithm compares rank order lists (ROLs) submitted to CaRMS by applicants
and programs and matches applicants to programs based on both parties stated preferences. ROLs submitted by applicants indicate a list of programs where they wish to train ranked
in their order of preference. ROLs submitted by programs indicate a list of applicants they
wish to train ranked in their order of preference. The final preferences of applicants and
programs, as indicated in their rank order lists, determine the match outcome.
The algorithm is applicant-proposing, meaning it starts with an attempt to place an applicant
into his or her most preferred program. In this way, the algorithm provides applicants with
their best possible outcome based on the ROL submitted. At the end of the matching pro-

cess, each applicant has either been matched to the most preferred choice possible from
their ROL or all choices submitted by the applicant have been exhausted and they have not
been matched.

THE MATCH ALGORITHM AT WORK: A SAMPLE SCENARIO

The match for postgraduate medical training programs in Canada is complex involving hundreds of programs and thousands of applicants. The sample scenario below breaks down
how the Match Algorithm would work on a smaller scale if there were four applicants, each
with diverse career interests, and only four residency programs in the country, each only
having one position available.

A SAMPLE MATCH SCENARIO

APPLICANT RANK ORDER LISTS

PROGRAM RANK ORDER LISTS

Priya Sharma
1. Alberta Pediatrics
2. Western Family Medicine
3. Memorial Neurology
4. Sherbrooke Anesthesia

Western Family Medicine

1. Priya Sharma
2. Pierre Chang
3. Stphanie Fortin
4. Claudia Neilson

Stphanie Fortin
1. Sherbrooke Anesthesia
2. Memorial Neurology
3. Alberta Pediatrics
4. Western Family Medicine

Alberta Pediatrics
1. Priya Sharma
2. Stphanie Fortin

Claudia Neilson
1. Memorial Neurology
2. Alberta Pediatrics
Pierre Chang
1. Alberta Pediatrics
2. Western Family Medicine

Memorial Neurology
1. Claudia Neilson
2. Stphanie Fortin
3. Priya Sharma

RESULTS
Western Family Medicine
Pierre Chang
Alberta Pediatrics
Priya Sharma
Memorial Neurology
Claudia Neilson
Sherbrooke Anesthesia
Unlled

Sherbrooke Anesthesia
1. Priya Sharma
2. Pierre Chang

If you have any questions about the match or the Match Algorithm, please contact the help
desk at help@carms.ca or 1.877.227.6742.

CaRMS ALERT

The CaRMS Alert website was launched in 2013 to provide users with accurate, real-time
updates on any system-wide technical issues that may arise with CaRMS online systems.
CaRMS Alert helps keep all users of CaRMS online systems better informed and allows us to
target the efforts of our client service agents and IT specialists more effectively.
Check carmsalert.ca first if you are experiencing issues with our online systems and see if
the issue has already been identified. Any global, system-wide issues will be listed, along with
any workarounds, users affected, issue statuses and estimated resolution times. Particular
problems experienced by individual users will not be listed.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

1 If I withdraw from the match, go unmatched or match in another country can I get
a refund?
CaRMS is a not-for-prot, fee-for-service organization. As such, all fees for registration
and application, including those received from applicants who later withdraw or go unmatched, are non-refundable.
2 Can I make changes to my application after le review has started?
Once le review begins, no program applications can be un-submitted for changes or
withdrawn; however, you can add notes to your application and assign additional documents.
3 The program description has changed or is not updated, when will CaRMS x this?
While program descriptions are hosted on the CaRMS website, the institutions and the
postgraduate deans oces are responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of this information. We encourage you to verify information directly with the institutions.
4 I am also applying in the US through the National Resident Matching Program
(NRMP). Do I need to notify you?
Yes. You must notify CaRMS through your online application before the rank order list
(ROL) deadline. If you fail to notify us, you can be removed from the CaRMS match and
your match results voided.
5 What if I decide I do not want to participate in the match this year?
Before le review begins, you can withdraw from individual programs or the match entirely. After le review begins, you can only withdraw from the match entirely. Another
option is to simply not submit your ROL. There are no chances of matching without a
submitted ROL.
6 I forgot to submit my ROL or would like to make a change to my list, but the deadline has passed. What can I do?
The ROL deadline is the only deadline in the CaRMS match. CaRMS will not modify a submitted ROL or, if you miss the ROL deadline, submit a rank order list on your behalf.

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7 I missed the ROL deadline. How can I ensure I begin training this year?
If you miss the ROL deadline, you will have to apply in second iteration or participate in
the post-match process, if available. If not, you must wait until the next match year to
apply in the rst iteration again.
8 I matched but I could not get an educational license by my start date. Can you hold
my position?
It is at the institutions discretion if they wish to extend or hold your position. Failure to
meet the criteria for the appropriate licensure by the start of the residency program
results in the automatic release from the residency program and void of the match contract.
9 I matched, but have changed my mind about that program. How do I terminate my
contract?
When you list a residency program on your submitted ROL and are matched, you are
legally bound to accept the position and begin training. If you do not, your match is considered breached and will be brought to the CaRMS violations review committee and a
penalty applied. Please review the violation policies on CaRMS.ca.

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HELP RESOURCES FOR APPLICANTS

CaRMS has a variety of resources available to applicants to help facilitate their match year.

HELP DESK
We have bilingual, full-time help desk staff available to answer questions throughout the
match year. Applicants can contact the CaRMS help desk at help@carms.ca or 1.877.227.6742.
The help desk is open Monday to Friday, from 8:00 ET to 18:00 ET.

CARMS ONLINE HELP GUIDE

The CaRMS Online technical guide for applicants is designed to assist users of CaRMS Online.
We update it throughout the match year to reflect the different stages of the match process.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook and Twitter

We have a dedicated Facebook page and Twitter feed designed to provide information and
updates on our matches as well as general information from the organization. Visit us on
Facebook at facebook.com/carms.ca and follow us on Twitter at @CaRMS_CA.

YouTube

CaRMS YouTube channel hosts several instructional videos to help guide applicants through the
match process. The videos can be accessed at youtube.com/CaRMSvideo.

CaRMS WEBSITE CaRMS.ca

Applicant user pages

Our applicant user pages provide detailed information specific to our two main applicant
groups: Canadian-trained graduates and internationally-trained graduates. Each section
contains detailed answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) and match tips to provide
applicants with all the information they need to participate in a CaRMS match.

Match pages

CaRMS match pages provide general information about each of our matches, including eligibility criteria, registration information, university information and fees.

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Match timelines

CaRMS match timelines for applicants are an important resource throughout the match
year. They include recommended dates to help applicants keep their application on track for
timely completion.

Program description directories

We host program descriptions for all postgraduate institutions participating in CaRMS matches, providing applicants and programs with a centralized directory of program descriptions.
All content is provided by programs and is at their discretion.

Statistics

CaRMS publishes detailed reports on each of our matches on an annual basis and holds
national aggregate statistics on medical education in Canada dating back to 1972. We are an
invaluable repository of information for the medical community.

CaRMS webinars

CaRMS offers a series of interactive webinars throughout the match year, each designed to
provide users with a solid introduction to CaRMS Online and how it works.

Residency Link

Residency Link is our ongoing series of tips and useful information for the match year.

COMMUNIQUS
Communiqus, sent via email, are the primary communications tools used by CaRMS and
contain important information and instructions for registered users.

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The Canadian Resident Matching Service

(CaRMS) is a national, not-for-profit, feefor-service organization established in 1969
at the request of medical students seeking
an independent entity to provide a fair and
transparent application and matching
service for entry into postgraduate medical
training throughout Canada.

CaRMS.ca

17

300-171, rue Nepean Street

Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0B4, Canada

613.237.0075
(Toll free / Sans frais) 877.CARMS.42