Away Rotations and Matching in Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency: Applicant and Program Director Perspectives

Abstract

Away rotations appear to be mutually beneficial for applicants and programs in helping to establish a good fit between students and training programs through an extended interaction with the students, residents, and faculty. In addition, making a good impression on a senior elective rotation (home or away) may improve an applicant's chance of matching to a residency program.

Webinar during COVID-19 Improves Knowledge of Changes to the Plastic Surgery Residency Application Process

“…8 Medical students interested in matching into plastic surgery have traditionally relied heavily on visiting rotations and sub-internships. 2 , 9 , 10 Performing 3 or more rotations at outside institutions has become the norm in recent years for integrated applicants. 3 Incurring a significant cost burden has also become commonplace, with 1 recent study finding plastic surgery applicants spent an average of $3591 per applicant on visiting rotations.…”

“… 3 Incurring a significant cost burden has also become commonplace, with 1 recent study finding plastic surgery applicants spent an average of $3591 per applicant on visiting rotations. 10 In the same study, 91.1% of the applicants believed an away rotation made them more competitive, and program directors surveyed stated a strong away rotation performance as the most important residency selection criterion. Among the most recent intern year class, 67% participated in a rotation at the institution where they matched.…”

Geographic Trends in the Orthopedic Surgery Residency Match

“…Conclusions about geographic factors and applicant rankings of programs should also take into account the influence of fourth-year orthopedic ''away'' rotations, the selection of which also may be related to geographic factors. 12,13 Data on away rotations were not available, so we were not able to investigate that relationship. Assessing changes over 5 PGY levels in a single academic year may be insufficient to accurately assess variations in Match trends.…”

COVID-19 Implications on Clinical Clerkships and the Residency Application Process for Medical Students

“…Survey data from the 2014-2015 Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) shows that 67% of fourth-year medical students complete an away rotation [16]. In certain specialties, such as orthopedic surgery and plastic surgery, the percentage of students that match into a residency program at an institution at which they rotated, including both home institution and away rotations is high, 57% and 44% respectively [19][20]. These results suggest that away rotations play a significant role in the residency match process.…”