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Factors Related to Clinical Performance in Spine Surgery Fellowship: Can We Predict Success
Hannah A Levy1, Payton Boere, Zane Randell
1From the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MI (Levy, Currier, Huddleston, Nassr, Freedman, and Sebastian), the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA (Boere, Bodnar, Paulik, Kurd, Rihn, Canseco, Schroeder, Kepler, Vaccaro, Hilibrand), and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (Randell, Spina, Spiker, Lawrence, Brodke, Karamian).
Spine fellowship selection factors like residency program rank and USMLE scores predict performance. Research productivity is less predictive of actual fellow performance despite its importance in applications.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Neurosurgery
- Medical Education
Background:
- Spine fellowship applicant metrics may not align with clinical performance.
- Identifying predictors of successful spine fellows is crucial for program selection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To correlate spine fellow applicant metrics with application rank and actual fellowship performance.
- To determine which application factors predict successful clinical performance in spine fellows.
Main Methods:
- Retrieved and deidentified 37 spine fellow applications from the San Francisco Match database.
- Collected data on research, academics, examinations, and recommendations.
- Surveyed attending spine surgeons to rank applicants and assess previous fellows' performance.
- Used Pearson correlation and linear regression to analyze associations between metrics and outcomes.
Main Results:
- Residency program rank, US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores, recommendation writer's H-index, and journal reviewer positions correlated with theoretical rank.
- Actual fellow performance associated with residency program rank, recommendation writer's H-index, and USMLE scores.
- Journal reviewer positions, USMLE Step 1 and Step 3 scores, recommendation writer's H-index, and overall research predicted theoretical rank.
- Recommendation writer's H-index and Alpha Omega Alpha achievement predicted actual performance.
Conclusions:
- Residency program reputation, USMLE scores, and established surgeon recommendations are key for spine fellowship selection and performance.
- Research productivity is significant for application review but not a predictor of fellow performance.
