Information Update Regarding the Canadian Universal Two Step Notification Process
October 26, 2023 – The last three interview cycles have all been virtual and this shift to providing virtual interviews will continue on a permanent basis moving forward. As such, the CCPPP Executive has been in discussions about discontinuing the Canadian Universal Two Step Notification Process, which was originally developed to allow applicants time to plan out their physical travel between cities across Canada for attending in person interviews.
In July of 2023, The APPIC Board announced that availability of an interviewer scheduler for their member programs (which include Canadian Residency Programs) and are strongly recommending the use of the NMS (National Match Service) Interview Scheduler for the 2024 APPIC Match. The scheduler is intended to facilitate the identification of an interview date and was well-received by both students and training directors when it was piloted during the last recruitment cycle. The APPIC Board is hopeful that it will ease the burden that comes from the task of scheduling multiple people into multiple interviews in a very short period of time. For more information about the APPIC pilot feedback, please follow the links at the end of this announcement.
Since the community call on Monday October 16th with National Matching Services in which they demonstrated the use of the NMS Interview Scheduler, we have heard from the larger training community seeking clarification from the CCPPP Executive regarding how this would impact our currently-endorsed Canadian Universal Two Step Notification Process referenced above. We have also learned that many Canadian Residency Directors are adopting the use of the NMS Interview Scheduler for this cycle, and some have not made a decision yet.
We have carefully considered this additional option for scheduling interviews in relation to our previous notification process and are making the following adjustments to our recommendations for the 2024 APPIC Match. We remain respectful that all programs have autonomy of choice in whether they opt to follow these recommendations.
CCPPP (Revised) Recommendation for the 2024 APPIC Match:
We recommend that ALL Canadian Residency Programs notify applicants of their interview status on Friday December 1, 2023 at 11am EST and may commence booking interviews at that time. Programs will NOT need to wait until the following Monday to schedule interviews.
We understand that some programs have already advertised the intention to follow the “The Canadian Universal Two Step Notification Process” in their program materials and brochures. As such, we ask that Academic Directors of Clinical Training relay the message to their students who are participating in the 2023 APPIC Match that any residency programs who have previously advertised adherence to the CCPPP Executive Canadian Universal Two-Step Notification process have been advised to begin scheduling interviews on the Friday should they wish. We advise applicants to pay close attention to the instructions and information in any communication from residency programs related to interview scheduling, to ascertain whether programs will begin booking interviews immediately following notification on Friday or not, and/or will be adopting the NMS Interview Scheduler this cycle or not.
Please note: Due to the permanent shift to virtual interviews only the CCPPP Executive will continue to recommend a single Universal Interview Notification Day moving forward (i.e., future cycles). This day will continue to be on the First Friday in December and in consideration of the various time zones, we will continue to respectfully ask all Canadian Residency Programs to wait until 11am EST to ‘go live’ with their interview notifications.
As always, during this busy interview cycle season, we encourage you to read the Late Breaking News Updates sent out by the APPIC Match Coordinator, visit the NMS website referenced below, the APPIC website, and our own CCPPP website and members only portal for the most up to date information.
Please see these additional resources / references for further information:
Check out the National Match Service website to read APPIC’s July 26th notice as well as watch the APPIC Community Call that recently occurred on October 16 in conjunction with the National Match Service: https://natmatch.com/psychint/whats-new.html#webinar
The CCPPP Interview Regionalization Schedule with the associated dates your residency programs signed up for can be accessed here: https://www.ccppp.ca/Members-only-documents
Information about the NMS Interview Scheduler Pilot program can be accessed with particular attention to be paid to slides 62-69.
https://www.appic.org/Portals/0/Website%20docs/APPIC_Business_Meeting_2023.pdf
