Vancouver—Canadian medical graduates who have not “matched” to a residency position this year may still be able to become family medical residents this July if they’re willing to do it wearing an army uniform.

Residency is the compulsory final stage of medical education in Canada, and trends suggest more Canadian medical graduates have not been offered a residency spot this year than ever before. Those graduates have medical doctor degrees, but will not be able to practise until they have completed residency.

The Canadian Armed Forces, which is currently 60 physicians short of the 250 it needs, is hoping to close that gap with a new program called the Medical Officer Training Program Surge 2018. Unmatched Canadian graduates between the ages of 17 and 47 can apply to join the army, and complete a two-year residency in family medicine through the program.

It doesn’t matter if they graduated from medical school in Canada or elsewhere. If they meet the army’s recruitment standards, and the academic requirements for a family medicine residency, they’re in.

“I know all of our folks here at the armed forces are excited about this untapped opportunity,” Colonel Pierre Morissette, director of force health protection, and a physician himself, said Friday in an interview with StarMetro.

“There are a lot of exceptional folks that we could end up recruiting and that could end up working as physicians in the armed forces,” he said.

The idea first came about last year when representatives from the Canadian Federation of Medical Students and from the army met to discus the mounting number of graduates going unmatched.

“The issue of unmatched Canadian medical graduates is top issue for our organization,” said CFMS president Henry Annan. “Understanding that this avenue might not be for everyone, we thought this was a possible opportunity for collaboration.”

Annan said about 50 graduates have already expressed interest in the program.

In B.C., the UBC Faculty of Medicine confirmed 12 graduates from this year’s medical class currently do not have a residency post lined up.

“Recognizing that the match is a highly competitive process, we are providing an array of resources and support services for this year’s 12 unmatched students, tailored to each student’s individual needs and career interests,” said Dr. Roger Wong, executive associate dean, education.

“The Family Medicine positions being offered through the Medical Officer Training Program represent an additional avenue for unmatched medical students across Canada. At UBC, we have informed our students of this additional opportunity and will be continuing to offer them support, tailored to their individual needs and career interests,” Wong said.

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Morissette described how the experience of completing residency with the armed forces would be different from any other program. He’s been deployed to Afghanistan, for example, and he notes that army doctors are called in when natural disaster strikes. Canada is also preparing to send peacekeepers to the United Nations’ Mali mission.

“These are all opportunities where, if you’re wearing the uniform, you can be activated very quickly,” he said.

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