The "Home-Field" Advantage: Do Interns From the Same Institution Perform Better on the Milestones?

The transition between undergraduate medical education (UME) and residency can be fraught. Residents who match into a program affiliated with their medical school may benefit from being in a familiar working environment, among faculty aware of the residents' capabilities. This study examines whether learning assessments reveal a "home-field" advantage for intern-year residents who train in Emergency Medicine (EM) programs affiliated with the medical school they graduated from. Recent studies have shown increasing preferences by programs and applicants for the "home field." Yet, it is unclear whether the preference for the home field has benefits for matriculants who match into a "home-field" residency.

This is a retrospective national cohort study of intern-year assessments using the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's Milestones at the Mid- and End-Year assessment periods. All accredited EM residency programs aligned with the medical school of interns who entered residency in 2021 or 2022 were included. Mixed-effects regression and mixed-effects logistic regression estimated differences in Milestones performance, including whether residents were at or above the "novice" level expected for first-year residents (not assessed as "Not Yet Completed Level 1").

A total of 5905 residents entered 275 EM programs. Overall, 8.6% of residents matched into home-field programs (2021: 9.1%; 2022: 8.1%). Home-field residents earned modest advantages in mid-year Interpersonal Communication (β = 0.05, p = 0.002) and end-year Patient Care (β = 0.04, p = 0.002) Milestones. "Home-field" residents were more likely to be ready for supervised practice in Interpersonal Communication (OR = 2.24, p = 0.014) and PC (OR = 2.57, p = 0.003).

"Home-field" advantage is evident in EM residency at the mid-year and end-year assessment periods. While differences in Milestone assessments were modest, there were substantial differences in not reaching the expected novice level for supervised practice.