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Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Geographic Match Location Patterns: Comparison of Pre and Post Virtual Interviews
Briana N Mayberry1, Shweta Patel1, Sima Baalbaki1
1Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama; Medicine Service, Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama.
Objective:
To evaluate the impact of virtual interviews on geographic trends for applicants and programs in the obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) resident match.
Design:
Cross-sectional study of a random 50% sample of all OBGYN residency programs listed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for the 2023 to 2024 academic year. Data collected from each program included geographic location, number of residents per year, and total number of residents. Residents were categorized into 4 mutually exclusive geographic match categories: matched into the same institution, matched into same state (but different institution), matched into the same US Census region but a different state/institution, or matched into a different US Census region.
Results:
A total of 148 of 295 (50.2%) residency programs were included (known total number of residents = 2,928 from four US census regions and Puerto Rico). Most programs were considered small (≤16 residents; n = 52, 35.1%). In general, 43.9% (1148 of 2617) residents matched in a different region from their medical school training. For the primary outcome, no differences in the geographic placement in the previrtual (2020) and virtual application cycles (2021-2023) were observed (p = 0.51). When analyzed by program size or program region, there was no difference in the geographic placement in the previrtual and virtual application cycles.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that the virtual interview process did not demonstrate an impact on geographical placement of OBGYN residents, regardless of the size of the residency program or the program's geographic region.
