ArticleCJEM2026
The virtual "CaRMS Social": useful tool or awkward gathering?
Article in CJEM, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the annual residency match (CaRMS Match) process to be conducted entirely virtually. Pre-pandemic, Canadian emergency medicine (EM) programs hosted a social event in conjunction with their interviews. Since 2021, all EM programs have offered a virtual social event to candidates participating in the virtual interview. Our study sought to explore the perceived impact of the virtual social event on candidates' program rankings, the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the virtual social, and how candidates felt virtual socials could be improved in the future.
methodsA survey methodology was used for this study. Participants were residents in Canadian EM programs who had participated in the match in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The survey included one Likert scale question and narrative comment boxes to explore participant perspectives. Narrative comments were analyzed and grouped into themes.
resultsThe survey was completed by 108 participants out of 236 residents who matched in those 3 years (45.8%). The mean impact of the virtual social on ranking decisions was 2.64 on a 5-point Likert scale. Participants valued the interactions with residents, observations of residents interacting with one another, and small group breakouts that allowed them to have their questions about the program answered. They also emphasized the time and cost- savings of the virtual format. They suggested that platforms with a user-controlled avatar (e.g., GatherTown) and large group activities were not useful. Virtual social interactions remained challenging for candidates as did fatigue with the virtual environment.
conclusionThe CaRMS Match process continues to take place in a virtual environment. Candidates continue to value social interactions with residents; however, barriers remain in making meaningful connections in these environments. Emergency medicine residency programs may consider other approaches to introducing their programs and residents to candidates as part of the electives and interview processes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.