Supplemental Essays for Residency Applications: The Modern Day Typewriter

The purpose of this study is to evaluate one institution's use of a supplemental essay and its effect on the total number and demographics of applicants as compared to previous years.

A retrospective cohort review of candidates applying to our institution's Orthopedic Surgery residency program in the 2020 to 2021 cycle was performed. All applicants were presented a prompt for a short supplemental essay. Only candidates who completed the essay were considered for an invitation to interview. Differences in proportions of female and under-represented minority (URM) applicants associated with the year of application and with essay completion were evaluated. A similar analysis was also performed to assess differences in demographics of interviewees between years.

A single academic medical center providing tertiary care.

All orthopedic residency applicants from the 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 cycles.

Of 863 applicants in 2021, 506 (59%) completed the supplemental essay. URM status was significantly associated with application year and essay completion. However, demographics of eligible applicants and interviewees were not significantly associated with the application year, nor were the proportion of female or URM candidates offered an interview.

Our analysis based on use of the supplemental essay in one application cycle demonstrated that it was effective in reducing the application review burden by approximately 41.4% without adversely affecting the demographics of the interviewee pool.