How the Reputation of Orthopaedic Residency Programs Is Associated with Orthopaedic Fellowship Match Results

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Medical Education
• Graduate Medical Education

Background:

• The study investigates the relationship between orthopaedic surgery residency program ranking and fellowship match outcomes.
• Higher-ranked programs may offer advantages in the competitive fellowship application process.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if applicants from higher-ranked U.S. orthopaedic surgery residency programs achieve more favorable positions on their fellowship match lists.
• To compare fellowship match success rates based on residency program tiers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized San Francisco Match data (2014-2018) for orthopaedic subspecialties (excluding hand, shoulder, elbow).
• Excluded unmatched applicants and international medical graduates.
• Categorized residency programs into 5 tiers based on 2018 Doximity rankings; employed descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and ANOVA for analysis.

Main Results:

• Applicants from top-tier (1 and 2) residency programs applied to significantly fewer fellowship programs (p < 0.0001).
• Higher-tier applicants were more likely to secure interviews compared to those from lower tiers (p < 0.01).
• Tier 1 residency program applicants achieved significantly higher match list positions (p < 0.001) and were ranked more favorably by fellowship programs (p = 0.003).

Conclusions:

• Graduates from top-ranked orthopaedic surgery residency programs demonstrate superior performance in the fellowship match process.
• These findings highlight the impact of residency program prestige on interview rates and successful match positions.
• The study provides insights for future applicants in selecting residency programs to optimize fellowship prospects.