Rusk Debra, Holt Ashley, Harvey Brianna, Shanks Anthony
Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
BMC Med Educ. 2025 Mar 19;25(1):405. doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-06879-4.
Medical students targeting competitive specialties or those with lower competitiveness for their preferred specialty are encouraged to parallel apply to a less competitive field. The AAMC provides data on the number of applicants who parallel apply but little information exists on their match success.
Our objective is to describe the success rates for students who parallel apply to more than one specialty.
Following IRB exemption, a retrospective cohort study of Indiana University School of Medicine graduates from the 2021-2024 residency match cycles was conducted. ERAS data and match reports were reviewed to identify students who parallel applied to more than one specialty, determining their match outcomes. Subgroup analyses were performed based on specialty type, and descriptive statistics were reported.
Between 2021 and 2024, 1,411 IUSM students applied for the match, with 225 (16%) having a parallel plan; 39% of these students matched into their preferred specialty, 56% into their parallel specialty, and 5% did not match. The most common parallel plan specialties were Anesthesiology, Orthopaedic Surgery, and OBGYN. There were no statistically significant differences in parallel application rates among surgical, hospital-based, and primary care specialties.
Our study shows that 1 in 6 students will apply to a parallel specialty, with more than half matching into their parallel plan, making it a viable strategy for those targeting competitive specialties or with lower competitiveness. We found no difference in application rates between surgical, hospital-based, and primary care specialties, emphasizing the need for individualized competitiveness guidance.
鼓励立志于竞争激烈专业的医学生，或在其首选专业中竞争力较低的学生同时申请一个竞争较小的领域。美国医学协会（AAMC）提供了同时申请的申请人数量数据，但关于他们的匹配成功率的信息却很少。
我们的目的是描述同时申请多个专业的学生的成功率。
在获得机构审查委员会（IRB）豁免后，对印第安纳大学医学院2021 - 2024年住院医师匹配周期的毕业生进行了一项回顾性队列研究。审查了电子住院医师申请服务（ERAS）数据和匹配报告，以确定同时申请多个专业的学生，并确定他们的匹配结果。根据专业类型进行亚组分析，并报告描述性统计数据。
在2021年至2024年期间，1411名印第安纳大学医学院的学生申请了匹配，其中225名（16%）有并行计划；这些学生中有39%匹配到了他们的首选专业，56%匹配到了他们并行申请的专业，5%未匹配成功。最常见的并行申请专业是麻醉学、骨外科和妇产科。外科、医院科室和初级保健专业之间的并行申请率没有统计学上的显著差异。
我们的研究表明，六分之一的学生会申请一个并行专业，其中超过一半的人匹配到了他们的并行计划，这使其成为那些立志于竞争激烈专业或竞争力较低的学生的一个可行策略。我们发现外科、医院科室和初级保健专业之间的申请率没有差异，强调了提供个性化竞争力指导的必要性。
