As the program directors of the California Academy of Family Physicians Residency Network (CRN), we believe in full transparency and fairness in our engagement with prospective candidates for our Family Medicine Residency programs distributed across our state of California. In the era of Covid-19, we faced increasingly complex ways to communicate with applicants, including virtual interviews and in-person interviews, as well as virtual and in-person after-interview visits. In this current interview era, post-interview contacts have become increasingly common and necessary to assure all interviewed applicants are able to receive important information.

We, the CRN’s Program Directors, pledge to follow the National Resident Matching Program’s (NRMP) Code of Conduct for Programs (click link to read). Specifically, regarding post-interview contact, the Code states: “The recruitment team may exchange clarifying information with applicants following the interview but must not solicit or require post-interview communication for the purposes of influencing applicants’ ranking preferences.” We reiterate our commitment to this code to help medical students make the best decision possible as they interview and select potential residency programs.

This declaration is an expression of our belief in the values of professionalism and fairness in support of the residency matching process in family medicine. We also do this in support of the tenets of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD), Society for Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP), and NRMP.
We support medical students in their objective of obtaining a position at their preferred residency. We understand that direct communication to applicants from the Program Director may be misinterpreted by some applicants as an indication that the applicant will be ranked to match by that program. We also understand that lack of communication from the Program Director may be misinterpreted by some applicants as an indication that the applicant is not sought after. We are making clear here that lack of post-interview direct contact from the undersigned CRN member Program Directors is based solely on our pledge to reduce unnecessary confusion for our applicants.

We support each other and all California Residency Programs in our commitment to provide a learning environment that is professional, fair, and supportive to all students interested in family medicine in the state of California.

Sincerely,
Members of the CRN