The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Adult: EducationIntegrated cardiothoracic surgery match: Trends among applicants compared with other surgical subspecialties
Graphical abstract
Section snippets
Methods
The University of Vermont Medical Center institutional review board exempted this study from institutional review on September 4, 2020 (study number CHRMS [Medical]: STUDY00001169).
Number of Applicants and Applications
Thoracic surgery had the fewest number of available positions between 2010 (N = 10) and 2020 (N = 38), compared with all other competitive surgical subspecialties. Furthermore, thoracic surgery had the highest average number of applicants per position between 2010 (N = 7.40) and 2020 (N = 3.16) compared with all other surgical specialties (Figure 1). From 2010 to 2020, thoracic surgery saw increases in overall growth in the number of total applicants and US MD senior applicants by 62.2% and
Discussion
Thoracic surgery has been one of the most competitive surgical residencies to match, yet analysis of trends in the match and qualifications and characteristics of applicants applying to this specialty is limited. Herein, we sought to analyze trends, qualifications, and race/gender characteristics of thoracic surgery applicants and compare them with those of other competitive surgical specialties. Background and key findings of the study are summarized in Video 1 and highlights from the study
Conclusions
Among all of the surgical subspecialties, the CT I-6 surgery residency program has consistently been the most difficult surgical specialty to match despite having the greatest growth rate in numbers of PGY-1 positions for medical students. CT I-6 has attracted a diverse applicant pool compared with that of other surgical subspecialties and has observed a nearly 12% increase in number of female applicants over the past 5 years. Matched integrated thoracic surgery applicants averaged the highest
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Read at the 101st Annual Meeting of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery: A Virtual Learning Experience, April 30-May 2, 2021.
Lauren Bougioukas and Alyssa Heiser are co-first authors.