Climate effects of CaRMS applications

Thanks to Dr Delva for raising the important issue of excessive Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) applications.¹ I agree that CaRMS, while fulfilling a very important need, uses up far more resources of students and programs than is necessary. My purpose in writing this is to add the carbon and climate effects to the equation. As family physicians we expend considerable effort educating our society on public health issues like climate change but struggle to adhere to best practices in climate change mitigation ourselves. Eliminating travel for CaRMS by implementing virtual interviews would send a powerful signal that we are making changes in our culture rather than just preaching. This is not a radical proposal and would be considered normal in most other employment sectors. This would also improve some of the problems Dr Delva lists, such as student expense and time commitment. I hope family physicians across the country will let their residency programs and CaRMS leadership know that we support their efforts to move to a more efficient process, particularly by reducing travel requirements.

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