Balagtas Madison, Gocal Jakub, Saraf Shreya M, Mulcahey Mary K
From the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, IL (Ms. Balagtas and Mr. Gocal); and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL (Dr. Saraf and Dr. Mulcahey).
J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev. 2025 Jul 8;9(7). doi: e25.00176. eCollection 2025 Jul 1.
Orthopaedic surgery was the fifth most competitive specialty in the 2024 Match cycle as measured by the percentage of positions filled overall (915 of 916 [99.9%]). With the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 examination now pass/fail, research experience and publications have become increasingly important for applicants. This study explores key aspects of orthopaedic surgery research fellowships for medical students including the average number of publications and presentations, additional learning opportunities, and total number of fellows who matched into an orthopaedic surgery residency after their research year.
Research year fellowships were identified through an online search using publicly available information and the search terms "Orthopaedic Research Fellowship" and "Orthopaedic Research Gap Year" in May 2024. If available, information from individual program websites was used. Programs were contacted to provide the number of publications, presentations, and clinical opportunities offered by the program and the number of previous research fellows matched.
In total, 130 orthopaedic research year fellowship programs were identified. Information was collected for 80 programs through survey response or publicly available information. The average number of fellowship-related publications was 11.7 (range 2 to 30) and presentations was 11.86 (range 1 to 60). In addition, 68 programs offered additional opportunities including clinical and operating room exposure, educational experiences, and mentorship. The total number of research fellows from each program who matched into orthopaedic surgery ranged from 0 to 30.
This study found that orthopaedic research fellowships offer medical students an average of 11.7 publications and 11.86 presentations, along with notable clinical exposure. This study offers insights into key characteristics of research fellowships for students evaluating programs, while also highlighting the need for future research to determine which applicants benefit most and how the role of these fellowships is changing in light of the pass/fail United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 examination.
在2024年住院医师匹配周期中，骨科手术是竞争最激烈的第五大专业，以总体职位填补率衡量（916个职位中的915个[99.9%]）。随着美国医师执照考试第一步考试改为及格/不及格制，研究经历和发表文章对申请者来说变得越来越重要。本研究探讨了医学生骨科手术研究奖学金的关键方面，包括平均发表文章和报告的数量、额外的学习机会，以及在研究年之后匹配到骨科手术住院医师项目的研究员总数。
2024年5月，通过在线搜索，利用公开可用信息以及搜索词“骨科研究奖学金”和“骨科研究间隔年”，确定了研究年奖学金项目。如有可用信息，则使用各个项目网站的信息。联系各项目，以获取该项目提供的发表文章数量、报告数量、临床机会数量以及之前匹配的研究奖学金获得者数量。
总共确定了130个骨科研究年奖学金项目。通过调查回复或公开可用信息收集了80个项目的信息。与奖学金相关的平均发表文章数量为11.7篇（范围为2至30篇），报告数量为11.86次（范围为1至60次）。此外，68个项目提供了额外的机会，包括临床和手术室实习、教育经历以及指导。每个项目匹配到骨科手术的研究奖学金获得者总数从0到30不等。
本研究发现，骨科研究奖学金为医学生平均提供了11.7篇发表文章和11.86次报告，同时还有显著的临床实习机会。本研究为评估项目的学生提供了研究奖学金关键特征的见解，同时也强调了未来研究的必要性，以确定哪些申请者受益最大，以及鉴于美国医师执照考试第一步考试改为及格/不及格制，这些奖学金的作用正在如何变化。
