Statement on Admissions Advisory Work and Residency Program Selection
It has come to our attention that some residents and faculty members participate, for remuneration, in organizations that provide preparation services to candidates for medical school or residencies. In some cases, these individuals purport on advertising materials to have close knowledge of admissions processes.
The Undergraduate (MD) and Postgraduate medical education (PGME) programs of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine do not support members of its clinical academic community participating in this type of activity for several reasons, specifically:
Companies that profit from offering preparatory resources do so by charging significant amounts of money, which creates inequity in favour of those with the ability to pay. The University of Toronto (UofT) supports equity of opportunity for all applicants and strongly opposes anything that perpetuates bias, specifically socioeconomic bias, in our application and selection system.
Information acquired by virtue of participation in selection activities is considered highly confidential, proprietary information of the University; use of this information outside of the context of UofT selection processes is prohibited.
There exists both a perceived and actual conflict of interest if an individual provides services to future applicants and then participates in a selection activity. Information acquired in the course of admissions consultation cannot be used in admissions decisions yet there exists an inherent perception of bias towards candidates that have had access to services by individuals engaging in the consultation.
There are reputational risks with respect to the integrity of UofT’s admissions process when a member of the University of Toronto academic community represents themselves as an expert in admission practices and charges for these services. The Faculty therefore strongly opposes members of its academic community participating in this form of paid activity, and furthermore requires adherence to the following procedures:
Individuals who are contemplated for selection committees must explicitly attest that they have never participated in paid preparatory or advisory roles related to program application; those who have must not be allowed to participate in any subsequent admissions or selection activities to related programs at the University.
Individuals who participate in selection committees will be asked to sign a declaration that they will not use information gathered during selection processes, or their status as a participant in selection processes for financial or personal gain, that divulging information related to the selection criteria, processes or deliberations of University of Toronto programs constitutes a breach of confidentiality and that such a breach may be considered unprofessional or otherwise contrary to professional obligations and may result in consequences including a permanent ban in participation in medical admissions processes.
