Preparedness for Matching into an Orthopaedic Surgery Residency: Student Perspectives as a Model for Institutional Progression

Abstract

Objective With the increasingly competitive nature of matching into an orthopaedic surgery residency, there is an opportunity for medical schools and orthopaedic faculty to enhance their students’ candidacy. In this study, we aim to evaluate medical students’ satisfaction with our institution’s provision of resources, identify areas of strengths and weaknesses within our department, and use these findings to implement action plans for institutional advancement. Design This is a prospective, cross-sectional survey study of alumni from our institution, an allopathic medical school affiliated with a tertiary-care university teaching-hospital, who successfully matched into an orthopaedic surgery residency program between 2006 and 2021. Setting Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, New Brunswick, NJ Participants The survey was distributed to 83 matched alumni from our institution, 45 (54.2%) responded to the survey. Results Forty-four (97.8%) survey respondents successfully matched into a PGY-1 orthopaedic surgery residency position on their first attempt. Nearly 70.0% of survey respondents matched into their top 3 ranked residency program while ~90.0% matched into their top 5 ranked residency program. Survey respondents reported that board exam scores (33.3%), performance on away rotations (28.9%), and letters of recommendation (15.6%) were their greatest strengths, while research experience (53.3%), lack of inclusion in AOA (17.8%), and board exam scores (15.6%) were their greatest weaknesses. On survey responses evaluated using a 1-5 Likert scale, survey respondents reported that their sub-internship at our home institution adequately prepared them to excel on away rotations (4.38 ± 0.912). Conversely, survey respondents from our institution rated faculty and resident’s receptiveness to students seeking research opportunities the lowest (3.38 ± 1.007). Conclusions An internal assessment of orthopaedic departments at medical institutions, utilizing student perspectives, can be a useful tool for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a program’s ability to prepare students to successfully match into an orthopaedic residency. After identification, programs must be able to hone strengths and mitigate weaknesses by setting objectives for improvement and implementing action plans to ensure deficiencies are adequately addressed.