Charting the Effect of the Universal Offer Date on Plastic Surgery Residency Matches

In 2019, the plastic surgery residency match changed their method for inviting students to interview. Instead of offering interview invitations and scheduling interviews on a first come, first served basis, all plastic surgery residency programs sent out secured interview spots on the same day. This universal offer date was intended to remove student worry that surrounded not scheduling an interview fast enough, as well as cause students to more carefully select which interview invitations to accept, increasing the likelihood that residency programs could interview only those students most interested in matching at their institutions. The effect of universal offer date was studied through analysis of available National Residency Match Program data, with a focus on the mean number of contiguous programs students ranked to match, as well as the mean number of applicants who residency programs ranked to fill each available position. Historical trends in plastic surgery match, trends in the match in other competitive surgical subspecialties, and applicant qualifications were also analyzed. In breaking with the general trend among all surgical subspecialties toward ranking more applicants per residency position, in 2020, fewer plastic surgery applicants were ranked by residency programs per available position, suggesting a more effective interview process and match. Matched applicant qualifications remained excellent across the period studied.