Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Aug 1;28(15):e633-e641.
doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-20-00557.

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Application Process

Amiethab A Aiyer  1 , Caroline J Granger, Kyle L McCormick, Cara A Cipriano, Jonathan R Kaplan, Matthew A Varacallo, Seth D Dodds, William N Levine
Affiliations

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Application Process

Amiethab A Aiyer et al. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. .

Abstract

Over recent months, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has swept the world as a global pandemic, largely changing the practice of medicine as it was previously known. Physician trainees have not been immune to these changes-uncertainty during this time is undeniable for medical students at all levels of training. Of particular importance is the potential impact of COVID-19 on the upcoming residency application process for rising fourth-year students; a further source of added complexity in light of the newly integrated allopathic and osteopathic match in the 2020 to 2021 cycle. Owing to the impact COVID-19 could have on the residency match, insight regarding inevitable alterations to the application process and how medical students can adapt is in high demand. Furthermore, it is very possible that programs will inquire about how applicants spent their time while not in the hospital because of COVID-19, and applicants should be prepared to provide a meaningful answer. Although competitive at a basal level, the complexity of COVID-19 now presents an unforeseen, superimposed development in the quest to match. In this article, we aim to discuss and provide potential strategies for navigating the impact of COVID-19 on the residency application process for orthopaedic surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None of the following authors or any immediate family member has received anything of value from or has stock or stock options held in a commercial company or institution related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article: Dr. Aiyer, Granger, Dr. McCormick, Dr. Cipriano, Dr. Kaplan, Dr. Varacallo, Dr. Dodds, and Dr. Levine.

Comment in

References

    1. References printed in bold type are those published within the past 5 years.

    1. Li NY, Gruppuso PA, Kalagara S, Eltorai AEM, DePasse JM, Daniels AH: Critical assessment of the contemporary orthopaedic surgery residency application process. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2019;101:e114. - PubMed
    1. Chen AF, Secrist ES, Scannell BP, Patt JC: Matching in orthopaedic surgery. J Am Acad Orthop Surg 2020;28:135-144. - PubMed
    1. DePasse JM, Palumbo MA, Eberson CP, Daniels AH: Academic characteristics of orthopaedic surgery residency applicants from 2007 to 2014. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2016;98:788-795. - PubMed
    1. Aiyer A, Sankar V, Summers S, et al. : Unifying the orthopaedic surgery residency application process under a single accreditation system: A primer. J Am Acad Orthop Surg 2020;28:263-267. - PubMed