Regional Trends for the 2021 COVID-19 Independent Plastic Surgery Match Cycle

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Public Health

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a shift to virtual interviews and canceled away rotations for the 2021 plastic surgery match.
• Previous studies indicated geographic matching trends for integrated plastic surgery applicants during the 2021 cycle.
• Geographic trends for independent plastic surgery applicants during the COVID-19 pandemic remained unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on geographic matching outcomes for independent plastic surgery applicants.
• To compare regional and distance-based matching trends between pre-COVID (2019-2020) and COVID (2021) match cycles.

Main Methods:

• Utilized publicly available data for independent plastic surgery applicants who successfully matched in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
• Collected zip codes for applicants' medical schools, residency programs, and plastic surgery programs.
• Compared regional and distance outcomes between pre-COVID and COVID match cycles.

Main Results:

• No significant difference was observed in gender distribution between COVID and pre-COVID match cycles (p=0.23).
• The COVID match cycle showed 38.6% of applicants matching within their residency region, compared to 47.2% pre-COVID (p=0.28).
• No significant differences in regional or distance-based matching were found concerning medical school or residency, nor when stratified by US regions (p=1.00 for all).

Conclusions:

• The transition to virtual interviews and canceled rotations during the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly affect independent plastic surgery applicants' ability to match outside their prior regions.
• This finding may suggest a reduced program preference for candidates within the same region as their residency.
• Further research could explore factors influencing program selection in a virtual interview environment.