Landing a GI Fellowship: The Match and the Map

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Gastroenterology Fellowship Matching
• Trainee Recruitment

Background:

• Internal applicants (same training institution) and local applicants (same geographic area) were defined for gastroenterology fellowships.
• Program director priorities for gastroenterology fellowships do not heavily favor internal applicants.
• Limited data exists on the prevalence of internal and local applicants in US gastroenterology training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the proportion of gastroenterologists who were internal or local applicants between 2010-2019.
• To analyze fellowship matching trends in gastroenterology.

Main Methods:

• A Doximity online search identified postgraduate training data for gastroenterologists (2010-2019).
• Programs were categorized by US Census Bureau divisions and regions.
• Sample size was calculated using a 95% confidence level and 2% margin of error.

Main Results:

• 1489 physicians were analyzed.
• Internal applicants constituted 39.56% of the sample.
• Gastroenterologists training in the same state, division, and region were 53.06%, 60.64%, and 71.93%, respectively.

Conclusions:

• A substantial proportion of gastroenterologists are internal or local applicants.
• Further investigation is needed to understand the implications of these trends on fellowship candidate choices.
• The study highlights potential geographic or institutional biases in gastroenterology fellowship admissions.