Orphan Applicants in Orthopedic Surgery: Where Do Allopathic Applicants Without an Affiliated Residency Program Match?

TL;DR

This study examines where medical students from schools with and without orthopedic residency programs end up matching for their residency.

Contribution

The study reveals differences in residency program types matched by students from schools with and without home orthopedic programs.

Findings

Students from schools with home programs more often matched into academic centers (73%) compared to orphan applicants (67.8%).

Orphan applicants were more likely to match into community programs (12.8%) than students from schools with home programs (8.3%).

Abstract

Background

Orthopedic surgery is one of the most competitive specialties to match into a residency. With a plethora of qualified applicants and the subjective nature of matching into any residency program, it can be difficult to accurately assess the chances of successfully matching into orthopedic surgery and the types of programs an applicant will match into. The purpose of this study is to compare the types of programs that students from medical schools with and without home programs match.

Methods

This was a five-year retrospective study (2019 to 2023) analyzing 155 United States Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) programs and their orthopedic residency-matched students. Of the 155 programs, 40 were excluded from the study due to the lack of obtainable data. For each medical school, we analyzed several variables: the presence of a home program, the total number of orthopedic residency matches, residency program matches, and residency program affiliation (academic, community, university-affiliated community-based, military).

Results

Of the 2066 total matched applicants from institutions with home programs, 1508 (73%) matched into academic centers, 315 (15.3%) into university-affiliated community programs, 172 (8.3%) into community programs, and 71 (3.4%) into military programs. In contrast, of the 219 total matched applicants from institutions without home programs (orphan applicants), 144 (67.8%) matched into academic programs, 36 (16.4%) into university-affiliated community programs, 28 (12.8%) into community programs, and 11 (5%) into military programs.

Conclusion

A greater proportion of students from institutions with home programs matched into academic centers compared to orphan applicants (73% vs. 65.8%). A greater proportion of orphan applicants matched into community programs (12.8% vs. 8.3%).

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