Morzycki Alexander, Bezuhly Michael, Williams Jason G
Division of Plastic Surgery, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Department of Surgery, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Plast Surg (Oakv). 2018 Feb;26(1):46-51. doi: 10.1177/2292550317749507. Epub 2018 Jan 9.
Plastic surgery (PS) is considered to be one of the most competitive specialties. As a result, some students are discouraged from applying, reducing the overall number of PS candidates. Still, much of what we know of the match is based in conjecture.
To examine the Canadian PS match data from 1997 to 2016. To our knowledge, this is the first long-term analysis of the Canadian PS residency match.
We examined the Canadian Residency Matching Service reports from 1997 to 2016, extracting key match statistics, including available positions, number of applicants, positions filled, positions unfilled, and gender-specific match results. To examine competitiveness, the ratio of total applicants per quota per year (CR) and the ratio of applicants who chose PS as their first-choice specialty per quota per year were calculated (FC-CR). The National Residency Matching Program data were used to assess the American integrated PS match over the past decade and served as a comparison.
The CR of Canadian PS programs declined over the last 20 years ( < .001), indicating fewer applicants applied to the program per available position. Similarly, the FC-CR also declined over the last 20 years ( < .001). The number of females matching to their first-choice discipline of PS increased from 1997 ( < .001). There was no significant change in the number of males matching to their first-choice discipline of PS ( = .15). There was no significant change in the competitiveness (CR) of the American integrated PS match over the last decade ( = 0.087).
Encouragingly, today PS has more training positions and more female residents; yet, the overall number of applicants has remained relatively static over the past 20 years. This analysis serves as a valuable reference for PS programs and should assist in developing strategies to encourage the best applicants to apply.
整形外科（PS）被认为是竞争最激烈的专业之一。因此，一些学生不愿申请，导致整形外科候选人的总数减少。然而，我们对匹配情况的了解大多基于推测。
研究1997年至2016年加拿大整形外科的匹配数据。据我们所知，这是对加拿大整形外科住院医师匹配情况的首次长期分析。
我们查阅了1997年至2016年加拿大住院医师匹配服务报告，提取了关键的匹配统计数据，包括可用职位、申请人数量、已填补职位、未填补职位以及按性别划分的匹配结果。为了研究竞争力，计算了每年每个配额的总申请人比率（CR）以及每年每个配额将整形外科作为首选专业的申请人比率（FC-CR）。使用国家住院医师匹配计划数据评估过去十年美国综合整形外科匹配情况，并作为比较。
在过去20年中，加拿大整形外科项目的CR有所下降（<0.001），表明每个可用职位申请该项目的申请人减少。同样，FC-CR在过去20年中也有所下降（<0.001）。从1997年起，匹配到首选整形外科专业的女性人数有所增加（<0.001）。匹配到首选整形外科专业的男性人数没有显著变化（P = 0.15）。在过去十年中，美国综合整形外科匹配的竞争力（CR）没有显著变化（P = 0.087）。
令人鼓舞的是，如今整形外科有更多的培训职位和更多的女性住院医师；然而在过去20年中，申请人总数相对保持稳定。该分析为整形外科项目提供了有价值的参考，并应有助于制定策略以鼓励最优秀的申请人申请。
