The pediatric surgery match by the numbers: Defining the successful application

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Specialties
• Applicant Metrics

Background:

• Pediatric surgery is a highly competitive general surgery subspecialty.
• Academic metrics may be inflating, impacting applicant competitiveness.
• Identifying factors for successful fellowship matching is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors associated with successful applicant matching in pediatric surgery fellowship.
• To analyze trends in academic metrics over a five-year period.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective comparative study of fellowship applications from 2014-2018.
• Analysis of matched versus unmatched applicants.
• Inclusion of data on residency program type, research time, publications, and ABSITE scores.

Main Results:

• Matched applicants were more likely to attend programs with pediatric surgery fellowships (64% vs. 28%) and have dedicated research time (55% vs. 21%).
• Matched applicants had significantly more publications (median 12 vs. 7) and higher ABSITE scores (64th vs. 59th percentile).
• Training in multiple programs negatively impacted match success; publication counts increased over time.

Conclusions:

• Residency program type, dedicated research time, ABSITE scores, and publication numbers are key factors for matching into pediatric surgery.
• A general increase in the number of publications among applicants was observed during the study period.