Demand for single- and dual-degree oral and maxillofacial surgery residency positions

Currently, no consensus has been reached regarding which track, single- or dual-degree, better prepares a resident for oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) practice. It is doubtful that such a consensus will ever exist. The purpose of the present study was to explore the trends in the selection of, and competition for, single- and dual-degree residency positions, with the ultimate goal of determining which degree track is in greater demand among recent applicants.

National match statistics were obtained from the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Data were drawn from each annual residency match for 1986-1987 through 2009-2010. For each match year, the data included the total number of OMS residency applicants participating in the National Matching Service, the total number of OMS positions offered, and the number of single- and dual-degree OMS positions that had been successfully matched. A piecewise regression analysis was used to evaluate the trends in the data.

During the 1996-1997 to 2009-2010 period, both the preference for single- and dual-degree positions and the proportion of single- and dual-degree positions offered remained relatively constant. On average, 50.19% ± 2.27% of applicants preferred single-degree positions, 24.44% ± 2.42% preferred dual-degree positions, and 25.70% ± 2.27% had no preference. The demand for each single-degree position from 1996-1997 to 2009-2010 was 1.44 times greater than that for each dual-degree position (P < .0001).

The proportions of single- and dual-degree OMS residency positions and applicant preference for a single- or dual-degree position have remained relatively constant during the past 14 match years. Recent trends have suggested a significantly greater demand for the single- versus dual-degree OMS residency position.