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Application Discrepancies in the 2023-2024 Integrated Plastic Surgery Match
Kerilyn N Godbe1, Lauren M Sinik1, Rachel Guest1
1From the Department of Plastic, Burn and Wound Surgery.
Annals of Plastic Surgery
|November 11, 2024
Summary
Medical students applying to plastic surgery programs often reported inaccurate quantitative data in their applications. Discrepancies were found in honor society status, USMLE Step 1 scores, and publication records, impacting application consistency.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Surgical Residency Admissions
- Application Data Integrity
Background:
- The Plastic Surgery Common Application (PSCA) was implemented for the 2020-2021 integrated plastic surgery match.
- Investigated the accuracy of self-reported quantitative metrics within the PSCA.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the reliability of quantitative data submitted by medical students in the PSCA.
- To identify discrepancies between reported and actual applicant metrics.
Main Methods:
- Compared quantifiable data from 330 PSCA applications between matched and unmatched students.
- Reviewed publicly available data and Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) records to identify discrepancies.
Main Results:
- Significant discrepancies noted in honor society reporting (Alpha Omega Alpha, Gold Humanism Honor Society) and USMLE Step 1 scores.
- Matched applicants exhibited more research reporting discrepancies (first author, total publications) than unmatched applicants.
- Common reasons for publication discrepancies included counting accepted, submitted, and non-peer-reviewed articles.
Conclusions:
- Inconsistencies in honor society status, Step 1 scores, and research reporting were prevalent among plastic surgery applicants.
- Recommends implementing NBME score verification and PubMed indexing for PSCA to enhance application accuracy.
