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Vascular Surgery Residency Matching - Impact Of Completion Of A Visiting Student Rotation Increase On Matching
Julia Kessel1, Kelsey Landrum
2, Chris Agala, PhD
3, Federico Parodi, MD
4, Mark A. Farber, MD
4, Luigi Pascarella, MD
4.
1The University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,
2Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,
3Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,
4Division of Vascular Surgery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Objective: Completion of visiting student or away rotations and successful matriculation of vascular surgery applicants is a multifactorial process influenced by financial burden and logistical challenges.
Methods: Retrospective, self-reported data for 123 vascular surgery residency applications were ascertained from the Texas STAR database (2017-2023).
Results: The percentage of Vascular Surgery applicants completing the Texas STAR survey has increased over time alongside the number of applicants and positions offered.Overall, 82 (66.67%) applicants completed at least one away rotation (mean 1.31, median 1.00, SD 1.24) with a majority (n=32, n total= 41, 78.05%) of those not completing an away rotation being part of the pandemic applications cycles. Of all applicants, those completing at least one away rotation were more likely to match (82.93% yes away, 73.17% no away, p=0.2050) and receive interview invitations (98.78%) from the institution where the rotation was completed. Of the matched applicants, most were matched at locations where they did not complete a visiting student rotation (n=80/98, 81.63%, p=0.0642, OR 0.0018). Applicants completing away rotations applied to more programs (yes away median 51, no away median 50, p=0.6794), received more interview invitations (median 30, 23, p=0.1183), and attended more interviews (median 19.5, 18, p=0.6403). In total, 98 participants (79.67%) matched. The odds of matching increased with number of programs applied to (OR 2.5 with 46-55 or < programs), receiving 1-14 interviews (OR 4.9, p= 0.0982), and attending 6-14 interviews (OR 4.5, p= 0.0351). Number of interview offers was not statistically significant (p=0.0982), but number of interviews attended among those who matched (median 20) versus went unmatched (median 16) was (p=0.0351). Applicants who matched had a lower number of research activities compared to those that did not match (median 5 in matched cohort vs 6 in unmatched, p=0.0097). There was no statistically significant difference in the number of honors clerkships, step 1 or 2 score, leadership experiences, or number of publications among matched versus unmatched applicants.
Conclusion: Completion of an away rotation positively influences interview offer at that institution and the likelihood of a match overall but likely does not influence the odds of matching at that specific location. While likelihood of matching remains multifactorial, the results of this study may help applicants weigh the burdens to the benefits of completing away rotations.
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