Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency Selection Criteria: A National Program Director Survey.

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Medical Residency Admissions
• Colorectal Surgery Training

Background:

• Colon and Rectal Surgery is a highly competitive specialty.
• There is a growing demand for residency positions.
• Information on successful applicant characteristics is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify academic benchmarks impacting colorectal surgery residency matriculation.
• Determine applicant characteristics influencing successful entry.

Main Methods:

• Anonymous web-based survey sent to 63 Colon and Rectal Surgery residency programs.
• Survey had 28 questions assessing applicant evaluation factors.
• 44 programs completed the survey (70% response rate).

Main Results:

• 91% of programs require prerequisite American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination scores for interviews.
• 50% of programs require scores above the 50th percentile.
• Interpersonal skills, letters of recommendation, and interview performance are crucial for ranking.

Conclusions:

• Successful matriculation requires meeting academic benchmarks.
• Demonstrating desirable characteristics, assessed during interviews, is vital.
• Interview performance is the most important factor in ranking applicants highly.