Underrepresented Minorities are Underrepresented Among General Surgery Applicants Selected to Interview

Trends in Race/Ethnicity Among Applicants and Matriculants to US Surgical Specialties, 2010-2018

“… 44 Receiving an interview offer has been recognized as an important step of gatekeeping the number of applicants who identified as URM. 20 A study assessing general surgery programs found that having more residents and faculty who identify as URM was not associated with an increased likelihood of applicants who identified as URM being offered an interview. 45 Creative and new strategies should be developed to encourage more applicants, make the interview process more equitable, and decrease the overall attrition of individuals who identify as URM who matriculate.…”

Underrepresented Minorities in General Surgery Residency: Analysis of Interviewed Applicants, Residents, and Core Teaching Faculty

“…We previously reported that URM applicants in this population were more likely to have a USMLE Step 1 score of less than 220, which was significantly associated with a lower likelihood for interview selection. 2 Screening applicants by USMLE Step scores is a fairly common practice, as lower Step 1 scores have been associated with failure on American Board of Surgery qualifying and certifying examinations. 8,9 We report that mean Step 1 scores among matched applicants were not significantly different than among those who were selected to interview, but did not match to one of the programs.…”

“…3 Data, submitted by the same programs for the initial study and used for comparison data, included age, sex, self-identified race, birthplace, medical school of graduation, and the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 test scores. 2 Of the 10 programs in the study, 4 use a USMLE step 1 cut-off of 220, 2 use 230, and 1 uses a combined score of >470 on Steps 1 and 2. Three programs did not use a USMLE cut-off.…”

“…Step 1 scores > 220, who are female and who attended US medical schools, were more likely to be selected to interview. 2 In addition, applicants who self-identified as nonwhite were less likely to be selected for an interview. 2 This study sought to evaluate the URM status of applicants selected to interview and matched applicants to that of current surgery residents, core faculty, and administrative leaders at the participating surgery programs using data from the 2018e2019 application cycle.…”

“…2 In addition, applicants who self-identified as nonwhite were less likely to be selected for an interview. 2 This study sought to evaluate the URM status of applicants selected to interview and matched applicants to that of current surgery residents, core faculty, and administrative leaders at the participating surgery programs using data from the 2018e2019 application cycle. We hypothesized that URMs would be underrepresented among applicants selected to interview and matched applicants, and that the diversity of current residents, core faculty, and program administrative leadership may affect the match outcomes.…”