Selecting the best and brightest: A comparison of residency match processes in the United States and Canada

Resident Behaviours to Prioritize According to Canadian Plastic Surgeons

Introduction

Many articles have been published outlining the resident selection process for plastic surgery training programs. However, which qualities Canadian plastic surgeons value most in their current residents remains unclear. A national survey study was conducted to identify which attributes surgeons associate with the highest resident performance and which behaviours trainees should prioritize during their training.

Methods

A literature review was performed to identify studies that documented attributes valued in plastic surgery applicants and characteristics of high-performing surgical residents. These qualities were extracted to construct a survey consisting of both ranking and open-ended questions. After an iterative review process, the survey was disseminated nationally to consultants and trainees of Canadian plastic surgery training programs.

Results

Survey responses were obtained from 120 invitees and a weighted rank was calculated for each evaluated attribute. The terms integrity, professional, and work ethic were viewed as the most important attributes prized by surgeons. Dishonesty, lack of dependability, and unprofessionalism were viewed as the most concerning behaviours. Additionally, disinterest and arrogance were identified by the open-ended questions as behaviours surgeons would like to see less frequently in their trainees. When compared to surgeons, trainees undervalued the importance of knowledge and the impact of unprofessional behaviour.

Conclusions

With the multiple roles that a resident must fulfill, understanding which attributes are of the most importance will help focus self-directed learning and development within residency programs. Ultimately, instilling the importance of integrity and professionalism is most highly valued by members of the Canadian plastic surgery community.

Survey of Canadian urology programs: Which aspects of the Canadian Residency Matching Service (CaRMS) application are the most important?

INTRODUCTION

For medical students, determining which aspects of the Canadian Residency Matching Service (CaRMS) application are the most important when applying to residency programs can be challenging. Due to the lack of current and reliable information on the selection criteria of Canadian urology residency programs, we surveyed each program about which criteria are the most important when selecting future residents in order to provide medical students with more transparency and programs with a better idea of how their criteria compare to those of others.

METHODS

An electronic survey was sent to all 13 Canadian urology residency programs (both program directors and selection committee members). It asked respondents to rate each aspect of the application on a five-point Likert scale. Following a 100% response rate from program directors, the same survey was sent to selection committee members. A numeric mean score was calculated for each individual aspect surveyed to create an overall rank list of the components. Independent samples t-tests (two groups) were used to compare the scores of program directors vs. program committee members and of francophone programs vs. anglophone programs.

RESULTS

Forty-three urologists involved in the application process answered. The three most important aspects were rotation performance at the respondent's institution (4.95±0.21), quality of reference letters from a urologist (4.60±0.62), and interview performance (4.49±0.63). There were no statistically significant differences between program directors and committee members for mean score of any aspect surveyed. Compared to anglophone programs, francophone programs gave statistically more significant importance to French proficiency (p<0.001) and pre-clinical academic performance (p=0.0272), while giving less importance to English proficiency (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Canadian urology residency programs are similar in that they rank "clinical performance during a rotation at their school" as the most important selection criteria when choosing a future urology trainee. Graduate degrees, career plans, and reference letters from non-urologists have less impact when choosing future urology residents. Francophone schools and anglophone schools differ in the importance of language proficiency and preclinical grades as selection criteria for urology residency. This study will provide future urology applicants with more information and transparency when applying to urology programs in Canada and be of use to urology residency programs that must now publish their selection criteria.

The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada's electives diversification policy: Potential drawbacks and benefits for medical students applying to urology

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How Competitive Is Plastic Surgery? An Analysis of the Canadian and American Residency Match

Background

Plastic surgery (PS) is considered to be one of the most competitive specialties. As a result, some students are discouraged from applying, reducing the overall number of PS candidates. Still, much of what we know of the match is based in conjecture.

Objective

To examine the Canadian PS match data from 1997 to 2016. To our knowledge, this is the first long-term analysis of the Canadian PS residency match.

Method

We examined the Canadian Residency Matching Service reports from 1997 to 2016, extracting key match statistics, including available positions, number of applicants, positions filled, positions unfilled, and gender-specific match results. To examine competitiveness, the ratio of total applicants per quota per year (CR) and the ratio of applicants who chose PS as their first-choice specialty per quota per year were calculated (FC-CR). The National Residency Matching Program data were used to assess the American integrated PS match over the past decade and served as a comparison.

Results

The CR of Canadian PS programs declined over the last 20 years (P < .001), indicating fewer applicants applied to the program per available position. Similarly, the FC-CR also declined over the last 20 years (P < .001). The number of females matching to their first-choice discipline of PS increased from 1997 (P < .001). There was no significant change in the number of males matching to their first-choice discipline of PS (P = .15). There was no significant change in the competitiveness (CR) of the American integrated PS match over the last decade (P = 0.087).

Conclusion

Encouragingly, today PS has more training positions and more female residents; yet, the overall number of applicants has remained relatively static over the past 20 years. This analysis serves as a valuable reference for PS programs and should assist in developing strategies to encourage the best applicants to apply.