In systems where multiple applications for posts are permissible and where most doctors take the view that having any job is better than having none, applicants are forced into deceptive behaviour. So goes the argument in a recent article on the difficulties of matching schemes for residency posts in Canada (Can Med Assoc J 1997;156:219-22). Candidates may make around 100 applications, each one stating that this job is the one they really want, which is true only for one of the applications.

According to its author “honesty is one of the defining virtues of medicine yet being dishonest is brushed off as a mere necessity: no one even acknowledges that a moral dilemma exists.” Properly supervised clinical training means having easy access to a senior doctor for opinions and advice.