Operations

Policies - Match Breaches Policy

Updated July 14, 2010

Purpose:

CaRMS seeks to protect the integrity of the matching process by requiring all match participants to behave ethically and responsibly during the matching process.

Policy:

1.0 General

CaRMS policy requires each applicant to enter into a CaRMS match agreement. Medical schools offering residency programs are also required to enter into an institution contract/agreement. CaRMS will investigate and take steps to resolve all alleged breaches of such agreements, including but not limited to: attempts to violate eligibility requirements, the matching process itself; failure to protect the privacy of the applicant or the applicant documents; failure to abide by the CaRMS timetable; failure to offer or accept appointments as required by the results of a match; and any other irregular behavior or activities that occur in connection with registration, the submission or modification of supporting documents or a rank order list, and/or the participant's commitment to honor the match outcome.

Applicants must inform CaRMS if they feel that the fulfillment of their binding commitment would cause serious hardship. If applicable, CaRMS must receive a letter of support from the applicant's undergraduate medical school, acknowledging and outlining the hardship. CaRMS will endeavour to intercede on the applicant's behalf but will stand by the decision made by the participating residency program and institution.

Procedure:

1.0 Reporting Procedures

Parties permitted to submit an official report to CaRMS concerning an alleged match breach includes, but is not limited to: applicants, program directors, postgraduate and undergraduate deans of medical schools, retained lawyers and law enforcement.

Suspected violations must be sent in writing to:

CaRMS Violations Review Committee
171 Nepean Street, Suite 300
Ottawa, ON
K2P 0B4
and/or
violations@carms.ca

Suspected violations must be submitted immediately, but in any event no later than 30 days of knowledge of the alleged incident. No investigation will be initiated until CaRMS has received a written report concerning the possible violation, in which the author of the report is identified. Any request for anonymity will generally not be granted, except in the most exceptional circumstances.

CaRMS will acknowledge all such written reports in order to make an initial verification of their authenticity within seven business days of the receipt of the report.

2.0 Review Process

The CaRMS review process operates as follows:

Step One (A): A complaint is issued in writing to the CaRMS Violations Review Committee concerning the alleged violation.

Step One (B): An acknowledgement from CaRMS will be sent to the complainant, within seven business days via e-mail and registered mail, regarding the receipt of the complaint.

Step Two: A representative of the CaRMS Violations Review Committee will contact the party or parties (including, but not limited to: the applicant, program director, undergraduate dean, or postgraduate dean) identified in the report and such other appropriate person(s) with knowledge of the incident. These individuals will be informed of the nature of the alleged violation, and that it is being investigated by CaRMS. All parties identified in the report as relevant to the alleged violation will be requested to provide CaRMS Violations Review Committee with their version of the incident in writing and, if necessary, their response to the allegation(s). All parties are given 14 business days to do so. The named person/institution will be given the explicit opportunity to make answer and provide submissions prior to the preparation of the preliminary report.

Step Three: CaRMS Violations Review Committee will prepare a preliminary report as soon as practicable, documenting the nature of the allegation and the results of the CaRMS investigation. A copy of the preliminary report will be distributed to all relevant parties. The named person/institution will be given 14 business days to respond to the allegations and initial findings.

Step Four: A final report of the findings will be distributed to all originally contacted parties which will include any response by the named person/institution.

Notes:

1. If the result of the investigation fails to confirm that a violation has occurred, the recommendation will be to close out the matter and notify all parties in the original report accordingly.
2. If the results of the investigation indicate that a violation has occurred, the CaRMS Violations Review Committee may, with the concurrence of the parties and in following the CaRMS Consequences of Confirmed Violations, seek to resolve the incident to the satisfaction of the parties involved.
3. Where any party is not in agreement with the recommendation to informally resolve or close the matter, the matter shall be referred to the CaRMS Board of Directors for appeal and final ruling.

Step Five: If the named person/institution is found guilty of the violation, s/he is added to the CaRMS Database of Violators and if the violator is an applicant, the reports are distributed to each program to which they apply in the current match, as well as in the future matches.

3.0 Reporting of Confirmed Violations Process

This will be used by the CaRMS Violations Review Committee as a guideline for penalties for confirmed violators.

Consequences if allegations of a violation are confirmed:

1. For completed reviews confirming a violation by an applicant:
   1. The final report will be delivered to the applicant with copies to:
      1. The applicant's medical school official, with a request that the report be placed in the applicant's permanent file.
         
         
      2. The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates if the applicant is a student/graduate of a foreign medical school.
         
         
      3. The director of the program to which the applicant matched, if the match has already been run.
         
         
      4. The director of the program to which the applicant has applied or switched (if known).
         
         
      5. The party who originally reported the violation.
         
         
      6. The CaRMS Board of Directors.
         
         
      7. The applicant's residency program director if the violation occurred in a fellowship match.
         
         
      8. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the provincial medical regulatory authorities, and the College of Family Physicians of Canada, if the applicant is to be permanently identified as a match violator or has been permanently barred from future CaRMS matches.
         
         
      9. Any parties who CaRMS determines are relevant to its investigation and findings.
      
      
      
   2. In addition, the applicant may be penalized by, but is not limited to the following:
      • A remedial caution
      • Disqualification from the current match
      • Disqualification from entry to subsequent CaRMS matches for up to three years
      • Such other action as the committee/board considers just and appropriate in the circumstances, including disqualification from future matches.
      
      
      
   3. The applicant also may be barred from accepting a position in another match-participating program that has a start date within one year from the date of the final report. If any match-participating program offers a position to that applicant to commence training during the one-year period or if the applicant accepts such a position, CaRMS will initiate a review to determine whether the applicant or the program has violated the terms of the participation agreement.
      
      
   4. The decision conveyed in the final report will be displayed permanently in the CaRMS Database of Violators; the violation will be included to identify the length of time the action is in effect.
   
   
   
2. For completed reviews confirming a violation by a residency program and/or institution:
   1. The participating residency program and/or institution may be penalized by, but is not limited to the following:
      • A remedial caution
      • Withdrawal of the program from the match if the violation was determined prior to match day
      • The program being identified as a match violator in the CaRMS website and database
      • Suspension or termination of the medical school's access to the password-protected match site area of the CaRMS website
      • Such other remedies as the committee/board considers just and appropriate in the circumstances.
      
      
      
   2. The decision conveyed in the final report will be displayed permanently in the CaRMS Database of Violators; the violation will be included to identify the length of time the action is in effect.
   
   
   

Definitions:

1.0 Match Breach

Any violation of the applicant agreement or institution contract will be considered a match breach.

2.0 Sister Organizations

The following organizations are considered CaRMS sister organizations:

• The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC)
• The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the provincial medical regulatory authorities
• The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC)
• Medical Council of Canada (MCC)
• National Resident Matching Program (NRMP)
• Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS)
• Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates

Scope:

This policy applies to all CaRMS match participants.

*This information is also shared with CaRMS' sister organizations *(Please refer to the definitions section for a list of organizations).