It’s a match! MD students successfully matched to a range of residencies
TMU School of Medicine’s first cohort of 105 residents will begin residency training this summer with placements under experienced physicians in clinical settings. This year, TMU is the only medical school in Canada to fill all R-1 positions in its residency programs.
Tuesday, March 4 marked the TMU School of Medicine’s first R-1 Match Day—the day when thousands of graduating medical students learn if they have been matched with a residency program and where they will be training for the next several years.
Postgraduate training in a specific medical specialty is required to obtain a medical licence. It allows MD graduates to gain specialized knowledge and skills under the supervision of experienced physicians in hospitals or clinics, diagnosing, treating and managing patients.
“The School of Medicine celebrated its first Match Day with remarkable results; TMU was the only medical school in Canada to fill all residency program R-1 positions,” says Dr. Teresa Chan, founding dean of TMU’s School of Medicine and vice-president medical affairs. “It’s an exciting time as students prepare to take the next step in their medical careers, and an impressive achievement for the school and for all our resident physicians.”
Innovative, community-centred training programs
The School of Medicine has partnered with some of the GTA’s leading health systems and organizations to offer a diverse range of residency training sites through their clinical affiliates. Additional partnerships are being established with leading primary care practices in Brampton and surrounding areas.
TMU’s residency programs are expected to have a significant impact on Brampton/Peel and the surrounding communities. Each residency program has been developed to address regional needs while centring the mission of TMU’s School of Medicine: to improve health and well-being, with a focus on the primary care needs of diverse and medically underserved populations.
Graduates will be clinically proficient and prepared to provide compassionate, patient-focused care that addresses the social determinants of health - the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes.
The matching process
MD grads apply to specialization residencies through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS). A centralized, algorithm-based system matches medical students to residency programs based on applicant and program rank order lists (ROLs).
The process involves submission of an online application through the CaRMS system and subsequent interviews with residency programs for shortlisted candidates. After the interviews, applicants create a ROL, ranking programs in order of preference. At the same time, programs also create a ROL, ranking applicants they interviewed. The CaRMS matching algorithm then compares applicants' and programs' ROLs to find the best possible matches, prioritizing matching applicants to their first choice program.
To support the matches, TMU’s School of Medicine received an outstanding level of support from clinical faculty members and community physicians who volunteered to help select its inaugural cohort of residents.
Community-driven PGME
The Ontario College of Family Physicians reports that 2.5 million Ontarians are currently without a family doctor—a number that has increased significantly since 2020.
The School of Medicine at TMU has met its residency allocation target with 60 per cent of dedicated spaces for family medicine, ensuring the first graduates are prepared for independent practice by as early as 2026.
Through a targeted selection process that incorporated opportunities to verify regional connections, and the integration of MD graduate students into the local health-care system through community placements, TMU will help to address the critical shortage of family physicians in the Peel Region.
Nearly 75 per cent of the 105 matched learners have a strong or meaningful connection to Peel and the surrounding areas, reinforcing TMU’s commitment to the region and to recruiting doctors who are more likely to stay and practise in local communities after completing their residencies.
“This is an important milestone for our resident MDs and the new School of Medicine, and signifies an immediate intervention in addressing the critical shortage of primary care physicians,” says Dr. Valerie Mueller, associate dean, postgraduate medical education (PGME), TMU School of Medicine. “Our admissions processes are designed to prioritize applicants with ties to the region, thereby following through on our commitment to recruiting, training and retaining dedicated doctors.”
The future is taking shape at TMU’s med school
With 105 residents now matched, the medical school is beginning to register and welcome MD learners to TMU and their training programs. MD learners will begin residency training this July.
“This is a historic achievement and a fantastic next step in the development of our School of Medicine,” said President Mohamed Lachemi. “I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations to all of the incoming residents; we can’t wait to welcome you as part of the inaugural class at the TMU School of Medicine.”
