From the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center.
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood.
Ann Plast Surg. 2024 Sep 1;93(3):374-377. doi: 10.1097/SAP.0000000000004075.
The Plastic Surgery Integrated track remains one of the most competitive fields in the National Residency Match Program. Match trends during the COVID-19 pandemic featured a distinct rise in regional and home program matches among plastic surgery applicants. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether these trends have continued into the most recent residency match cycle in 2024.
Residency match data from 2019 to 2024 was gathered through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Electronic Residency Application Service, integrated plastic surgery program websites, and plastic surgery residency program social media accounts. Current trends were compared with match cycles before and during the pandemic.
After COVID, the number of students matching at their home institution decreased to rates consistent with prepandemic norms. In the 2024 cycle, 46.9% of applicants matched at integrated plastic surgery programs within the geographical region of their medical school, which is similar to pre-COVID rates. Further, the emergence of a female-predominant plastic surgery match cohort during the pandemic has continued. In 2024, 125 (58.7%) of 213 matched applicants into integrated plastic surgery programs were female, which represents a continuation of female-majority resident cohorts since 2021. Our data showed that a sizable component of matched applicants completed visiting student electives at their matched institution. Finally, a large number of matched applicants completed a research fellowship, and a historically stable number completed research fellowships at their matched institution.
Our group reports stabilization in plastic surgery match trends in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the continuation of growth in the number of female plastic surgery residents. Although home institution retention rates returned to the baseline proportionality exhibited prior to COVID-19, medical school geographical region may continue to play an important role in the integrated plastic surgery residency match.
整形外科学综合轨道仍然是美国住院医师匹配计划中竞争最激烈的领域之一。在 COVID-19 大流行期间，匹配趋势的特点是整形外科学申请人中区域和本地计划匹配的明显增加。本研究的目的是评估这些趋势是否持续到 2024 年最近的住院医师匹配周期。
通过研究生医学教育认证委员会、电子住院医师申请服务、综合整形外科学计划网站以及整形外科学住院医师计划社交媒体账户收集了 2019 年至 2024 年的住院医师匹配数据。将当前趋势与大流行前后的匹配周期进行比较。
COVID 之后，在自己的机构匹配的学生人数减少到与大流行前规范一致的水平。在 2024 周期中，46.9%的申请人在其医学院所在的地理区域内的综合整形外科学计划中匹配，这与 COVID 前的比例相似。此外，在大流行期间出现了以女性为主的整形外科学匹配队列的情况仍在继续。在 2024 年，125 名（58.7%）进入综合整形外科学计划的 213 名匹配申请人是女性，这代表了自 2021 年以来女性为主的住院医师群体的延续。我们的数据表明，相当一部分匹配的申请人在他们匹配的机构完成了访问学生选修课程。最后，大量匹配的申请人完成了研究奖学金，并且在他们匹配的机构完成研究奖学金的人数保持稳定。
我们的小组报告说，在 COVID-19 大流行之后，整形外科学匹配趋势趋于稳定，同时女性整形外科学住院医师的数量继续增加。尽管机构保留率恢复到 COVID-19 之前表现出的基线比例，但医学院的地理位置可能继续在综合整形外科学住院医师匹配中发挥重要作用。
