Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Application Match Patterns

The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the orthopaedic match process are yet to be fully understood and should be explored. We hypothesize that the cancellation of away rotations due to the COVID-19 pandemic would decrease the variability of where students matched into orthopaedic residency compared to pre-pandemic years.

Accredited orthopaedic programs were collected from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) database. Rosters of orthopaedic residency classes for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 were compiled across all orthopaedic programs in the United States. Data collection for the incoming 2021 orthopaedic surgery residents was carried out by reviewing each program's website, Instagram, and Twitter.

Data for the incoming orthopaedic surgery residents from the 2021 National Residency Match Program (NRMP) were collected. 25.7% of incoming residents matched at their home institution. Data collection for the 2020 and 2019 orthopaedic residency classes yielded 19.2% and 19.5% home institution match rates, respectively. When examining likelihood to match into an orthopaedic residency program in ones own's state, we found that in the 2021 match cycle, 39.3% of applicants matched within their state, while 34.3% and 33.4% of incoming residents matched in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

To keep our patients and staff safe, visiting externship rotations were suspended in the 2021 Match cycle. As we continue to navigate the shifting waters of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to understand how our choices affect the dynamics of applying into residency training and beyond. This study demonstrates that a higher percentage of applicants that matched into orthopaedic residency remained at their home program compared to the previous two years before the pandemic. This indicates that programs tended to rank their home applicants, and that applicants tended to rank their home programs, higher than those that were less familiar. Level of Evidence: IV.