The residency application process: Challenges for our specialty

Abstract

Burden and Consequences,'' 1 both resident applicants and program directors make a tremendous investment of time and money to match positions for graduate medical education. This comes at the price of making the fourth year of medical school increasingly dedicated to securing such graduate medical education positions rather than learning. For the resident, the process usually involves completing multiple applications, securing subinternship ''audition'' rotations, and traveling plus interviewing at multiple programs. For the training programs, this usually means interviewing 30 to 40 almostindistinguishable applicants for 1 or 2 integrated positions. In cardiothoracic surgery, because we have more than one available training track (integrated and traditional), this forces the applicants to hedge bets and apply to both integrated thoracic residencies as well as traditional general surgery residencies, potentially compounding the application problem.

Integrated cardiothoracic surgery: Navigating interviews and the match

“…1 One survey of IPs found that 60% of programs received applications from nearly all applicants in the IP pool, but interviewed only 20 or 30. 6 In 2018, 170 IP applicants (99 US medical graduates and 71 international medical graduates) applied for 36 IP positions. Programs received an average of 114 out of 170 (67%) applications (69% US medical graduates and 65% international medical graduates).…”

“…Some applicants believe that applying to IPs can diminish their chances of matching into GS programs. 6,11 Certainly, relying too heavily on cardiothoracic surgery merits can convey a single-track mindset to GS program directors, and may be viewed as a neutral or even negative trait. 11 However, this need not be the case.…”

“…1 Highly competitive IP candidates may be comfortable applying to fewer GS programs, just as less-competitive applicants may feel the need to buffer their application with more IP and GS applications. 6 Most applicants will not secure an interview at every program to which they apply. However, statistics have been generally encouraging.…”

“…13 Although similar data are not published for IP applicants, with these caveats and perspectives, we suggest that applicants aim to interview at and rank about 20 programs in total. It is not uncommon to attend 10 to 15 IP interviews in addition to 10 GS interviews, 6 but attending so many GS interviews may be excessive for candidates who receive a significant number of IP interview invitations because having a higher proportion of IP interviews portends a higher likelihood of matching into an IP. Thus, although it is important to apply broadly, realize that once interview invitations are sent, there are significant costs and logistical challenges associated with interviewing.…”