RESIDENT TRANSFERS

Resident doctors frequently transfer from one residency program to another. Residents may transfer for many reasons, including changes in professional interests, evolving personal circumstances, or employment prospects in a particular discipline. Each postgraduate medical education office across Canada has policies in place to guide residents interested in transferring within and between institutions.

RDoC’s Role

RDoC supports and advocates for the development of a pan-Canadian transfer system. We have developed the Resident Transfer Principles for a Pan-Canadian Transfer System from a resident perspective, that, we believe, should form the basis of a pan-Canadian transfer system. We advocate that this new system should have, as its foundation, principles of

• Transparency
• Coordination
• Fairness
• Freedom from intimidation and harassment
• Accessibility

The primary goal of these principles is to create a guideline for developing a new transfer system, with the goal of maximizing the number of successful resident transfers:

• Into programs that have the capacity to accept transfers;
• Into programs that suit the resident and that the resident has been able to gain experience in; and,
• Through a process that is streamlined and agreed upon by all stakeholders across the country.

These principles are intended to be broadly applicable to all resident transfers, are inclusive of transfers between programs within one postgraduate institution, between postgraduate institutions within a province, and those across provincial lines.

Resident transfers across Canadian PGME institutions and programs have been a long-standing area of concern and advocacy for Resident Doctors of Canada (RDoC) over the past 20 years and continues to be top of mind for many of our resident members. These principles will guide our ongoing advocacy nationally as we continue to explore appropriate solutions to best meet the needs of our members.