Successful applicants in the Match for orthopaedic surgery residency have higher USMLE Step-1 and 2 scores, number of research experiences and research products, and contiguous ranks. A higher proportion of successful applicants are AOA members and students at a top-40, NIH-funded medical school.

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Background:Numerous surgical options exist to treat chondral lesions in the knee, including microfracture (MFx), osteochondral autograft transplantation (OAT), first-generation autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI-1), and next-generation ACI (ACI-2).Purpose:To compare the cost-effectiveness of MFx, OAT, and ACI-1. The secondary purpose of this study was to compare the functional outcomes of MFx, OAT, ACI-1, and ACI-2.Study Design:Systematic review; Level of evidence, 2.Methods:Two independent reviewers conducted an online literature search of 2 databases for level 1 and 2 studies using the Lysholm, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and/or Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Knee Score. A weighted mean difference in pre- to postoperative functional outcome score was calculated for each treatment. The mean per-patient costs associated with MFx, OAT, and ACI-1 were determined from a recent publication based on review of a national private insurance database. The cost for each procedure was then divided by the weighted mean difference in functional outcome score to give the cost-per-point change in outcome score.Results:A total of 12 studies (6 level 1, 6 level 2) met the inclusion criteria for the functional outcome analysis, including 730 knees (MFx, n = 300; OAT, n = 90; ACI-1, n = 68; ACI-2, n = 272). The mean follow-up was not significantly different between groups (MFx, 29.4 months; OAT, 38.3 months; ACI-1, 19.0 months; ACI-2, 26.7 months). The mean increase in functional outcome score was 23 for MFx, 19 for OAT, 20 for ACI-1, and 35 for ACI-2. The change in functional outcome score was significantly greater for ACI-2 when compared with all other treatments (P < .0001). The cost-per-point change in functional outcome score was $200.59 for MFx, $313.84 for OAT, and $536.59 for ACI-1.Conclusion:MFx, OAT, ACI-1, and ACI-2 are effective surgical procedures for the treatment of cartilage defects in the knee. All 4 treatments led to an increase in functional outcome scores postoperatively with a short-term follow-up. ACI-2 had a statistically greater improvement in functional outcome scores as compared with the other 3 procedures. MFx was found to be the most cost-effective treatment option and ACI-1 the least cost-effective.

Analysis of the number of citations within a given specialty provides information on the classic publications of that specialty. The goals of this study were to identify the 50 most cited articles on rotator cuff repair and to analyze various characteristics of these articles. The ISI Web of Science (Thomson Reuters, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was used to conduct a search for the term rotator cuff repair. The 50 most cited articles were retrieved, and the following objective characteristics of each article were recorded: number of times cited, citation density, journal, country of origin, and language. The following subjective characteristics of each article were also recorded: article type (clinical vs basic science), article subtype, and level of evidence for clinical articles. Of the 50 most cited articles on rotator cuff repair, the number of citations ranged from 138 to 677 (mean, 232±133 citations) and citation density ranged from 3.8 to 53.5 citations per year (mean, 16.9±9.2 citations per year). The articles were published between 1974 and 2011, with most of the articles published in the 2000s (29 articles), followed by the 1990s (16 articles). The articles originated from 8 countries, with the United States accounting for 30 articles (60%). Overall, 66% of the articles were clinical and 34% were basic science. The most common article subtype was the clinical case series (48%). Of the 33 clinical articles, 24 (73%) were level IV. Among the 50 most cited articles on rotator cuff repair, the case series was the most common article subtype, showing the effect that publication of preliminary outcomes and new surgical techniques has had on surgeons performing rotator cuff repair. [Orthopedics. 2016; 39(6):e1045-e1051.].

Within the past 2 decades, there has been a significant increase in the average number of authors per article in AJSM, as well as a higher proportion of international groups and academic institutions publishing in the journal. More nonphysicians are publishing in AJSM, with a significantly higher percentage of first authors with a bachelor's degree as their highest degree. This is likely due to a combination of a general increased interest in research as well as increased competition among medical students. These factors have likely led to larger research groups and thus a significantly higher average number of authors per article.