Developing and Assessing the Validity of a Metric to Quantify the Competitiveness of Surgical Residency Programs

Abstract

As surgical residencies become increasingly competitive, efforts are needed to improve the definition and measurement of competitiveness. Historically, most applicants utilize match rate to determine how competitive a residency is. However, there is limited data validating the use of match rate as a metric for competitiveness, and such use can lead to applicant self-selection. Metrics to measure competitiveness have been created by other studies; however, such metrics are specific to fellowships or are not straightforward enough for general use. An applicant's competitiveness is often determined based on metrics, such as the United States Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2, letters of recommendation, clerkship grades, research, and volunteering. In addition to match rate, applicants often use metrics of prior matched applicants to determine how competitive a specialty is. While metrics have continuously increased over time, it is unknown how applicant metrics correlate with the standard methods of assessing competitiveness, such as match rate. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simple metric to assess the competitiveness of general and subspecialty surgical residency programs.