Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Application Process: What Can We Learn?

Wang, Kevin Y.; Babu, Jacob; Zhang, Bo; Jami, Meghana; Musharbash, Farah N.; LaPorte, Dawn M.

doi:10.5435/jaaosglobal-d-21-00204

Cited by 9 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Interestingly, spine fellowship programs did not utilize social media as a recruitment tool before or during the pandemic. A study by Wang et al found that compared to the previous year, orthopedic surgery residency programs saw a 355% increase in social media use during the 2020-2021 application cycle [17]. Similar trends were seen for other specialties, including fellowships for other surgical subspecialties [18][19][20].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Applying to Fellowship During a Pandemic: Lessons Learned From the 2020-2021 Orthopaedic Spine Fellowship Application Cycle

Jami¹,

Xu²,

Zhang³

et al. 2022

Cureus

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a transition to a virtual format for all medical residency and fellowship application processes. Previous studies have discussed the successful implementation of virtual interviews, but a deep analysis of how the application process has changed for orthopedic surgery fellowship programs during the pandemic is lacking. The purpose of this study was to assess how COVID-19 impacted the orthopedic spine fellowship application and selection process. MethodsA web-based survey was administered to the program directors of all 75 U.S. orthopedic surgery spine fellowship programs, which often can accept both orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery trained graduates. Questions focused on the changes from the 2019-2020 application cycle to the 2020-2021 cycle. We collected data on connecting with potential applicants, the general application process, and interviews offered by programs. Univariate analyses were used to compare data from the 2020-2021 cycle with the prior 2019-2020 cycle. ResultsTwenty-five of the 75 contacted program directors responded to our survey (33% response rate). The percentage of programs that offered virtual open houses/meet-and-greets increased from 20% in 2019-2020 to 52% in 2020-2021 (p=0.018). Social media use was unchanged (0.0% vs. 4.0%, p>0.05). Compared to the prior year, the number of interviews offered by programs increased by 1.5 (32.7 vs. 21.9 interviews, p=0.024). There were no significant differences in the numbers of applications received by programs, interview dates available, or separate interviews each candidate completed during an interview day (p>0.05 for all). The inperson interview was the most important factor in 2019-2020 for selecting applicants, whereas the virtual interview, letters of recommendation (LOR), and research were equally ranked as the most important factors in 2020-2021. Regarding interviews, 50% of respondents would "likely" consider virtual interviews as an option in addition to in-person interviews in the future, but most (55%) answered that it was "unlikely" that virtual interviews would entirely replace in-person interviews. ConclusionSpine fellowship programs were more likely to use virtual social events to recruit potential applicants, send out more interview invitations, and equally consider LOR and research with interview performance during an entirely virtual application cycle. Half of the program directors would consider offering virtual interviews as an option for future application cycles, which may help reduce costs associated with the process.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Applying to Fellowship During a Pandemic: Lessons Learned From the 2020-2021 Orthopaedic Spine Fellowship Application Cycle

Jami¹,

Xu²,

Zhang³

et al. 2022

Cureus

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There is also only 1 year of information available for COVID-impacted data. In addition, there is a paucity of information regarding the impact of virtual interviewing on the orthopaedic surgery match process during 2020 to 2021 10 , 11 , 18 , 19 . Even if such data existed, the extreme variability in the structure of each virtual rotation would require further analysis based on offerings of the rotation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Applicants reported that social media content posted by residencies influenced their interest in programs 9 . Residency programs found social media to be more helpful than previous years and placed importance on virtual rotations during resident recruitment 11 . The authors believe that a lack of away rotations would lead to an observable difference in both geographic and affiliated program matching during the COVID-impacted match cycle because these virtual engagement opportunities were not universally adopted or sufficient to prevent programs and applicants from matching to programs they were most familiar with.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects of COVID-19 on Geographical Trends in the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Match

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND: Historically, medical students often match within the same geographic location or to an orthopaedic surgery residency program affiliated with their medical school. The objective of this investigation was to determine differences in geographic trends between orthopaedic residents matching before and during the Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: This study analyzed 2 groups of orthopaedic residents: Pre-COVID cohort (years 2016-2020) and COVIDimpacted cohort (year 2021). A list of accredited orthopaedic surgery residency programs (n = 202) was obtained. Orthopaedic residency program webpages were located (region [n = 4], division [n = 9], state [n = 50]). For each resident, their medical school and year of postgraduate training were recorded. Year 2021 resident information was obtained from the orthopaedic residency program webpages, social media accounts, and medical school match lists. Residency programs affiliated with a medical school were also assigned. Descriptive statistics were performed. Two sample Student t tests with Bonferroni correction applied to p-values (a < 0.05 significant) were performed. RESULTS: There were 4,832 residents analyzed (4,074 in Pre-COVID cohort; 758 in COVID-impacted cohort [758/868 of all positions in 2021 Match]). Statistically significant differences were detected between the COVID-impacted cohort (39.6%, p < 0.001) matching in the same state as their medical school (Pre-COVID 33.1%) and the COVID-impacted cohort (28.0%, p < 0.001) matching to a residency program affiliated with their medical school (Pre-COVID 21.2%). In the COVIDimpacted cohort, students who matched in state matched to their home program more frequently (69.3%) compared with the Pre-COVID cohort (60.5%). Geographically, there was a difference in the COVID-impacted cohort (52.5%, p < 0.011) matching in the same division (Pre-COVID 47.5%). No statistically significant differences were identified for residents matching to the same region as their medical school (Pre-COVID 60.1%; COVID-impacted 61%, p = 0.968). CONCLUSION: Residents matching in the same state, in the same division, and to a residency program affiliated with their medical school increased significantly in the COVID-impacted cohort. There was no difference between cohorts matching in the same region as their medical school.

show abstract

“…Several studies across medical specialties have identified online presence both in Web site and social media as a determining factor in fellowship selection among new physicians. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Fellowship program Web sites (FPWs) have been assessed across medical specialties for content relevant to applicants. 14,15 As part of this assessment, authors established criteria to describe FPW content that may be utilized as a comparative scoring method.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the Content of Ophthalmology Fellowship Program Web sites

Alsaloum

Kim

et al. 2022

Journal of Academic Ophthalmology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose To assess the availability and content of fellowship program Web sites (FPWs) among ophthalmology subspecialties. Design This is a cross-sectional study. Subjects Web sites of all Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology-accredited fellowship programs in five subspecialties (i.e., surgical retina and vitreous; cornea, external disease, and refractive surgery; glaucoma; neuro-ophthalmology; and pediatric ophthalmology). Methods FPWs were assessed for the presence of 26 key content criteria encompassing program demographics (n = 13), features (n = 10), and social life (n = 3). The presence of each content criterion as well as the content criteria groups were compared across subspecialties. Main Outcome Measures The main outcome measured is the average percentage of key content criteria present among ophthalmology fellowship Web sites. Results Among 266 accredited fellowship programs, 240 (90.2%) had Web sites. On average, Web sites reported 14.9 of 26 key content criteria (57.2%), 8.29 of 13 demographic criteria (63.8%), 5.84 of the 10 program features criteria (58.4%), and 0.705 of the 3 social life criteria (23.5%). Significant differences were identified among subspecialties in the presence of program description (p = 0.046), hospital affiliation (p < 0.001), names of current fellows (p = 0.004), case diversity (p = 0.001), and surgical statistics (p = 0.015). The average number of key criteria differed between subspecialties (p < 0.001). Conclusion There is significant heterogeneity in program fellowship Web site content among ophthalmology subspecialties. Information regarding social life, such as wellness programs and community information, was largely absent across all disciplines. Addressing missing information on ophthalmology FPWs may help optimize program-applicant fit.

show abstract

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Application Process: What Can We Learn?

Cited by 9 publications

References 23 publications

Applying to Fellowship During a Pandemic: Lessons Learned From the 2020-2021 Orthopaedic Spine Fellowship Application Cycle

Applying to Fellowship During a Pandemic: Lessons Learned From the 2020-2021 Orthopaedic Spine Fellowship Application Cycle

Effects of COVID-19 on Geographical Trends in the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Match

Evaluation of the Content of Ophthalmology Fellowship Program Web sites

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About