Comparison of fellowship match opportunities and results across pediatric surgical subspecialities

Abstract

There is a nationwide shortage of pediatric ophthalmologists, with trends in fellowship applicants foreshadowing a continued reduction in the number of active pediatric ophthalmologists in the years ahead. In this study, we investigated whether similar fellowship applicant shortages exist in other pediatric surgical subspecialties. We compared the match statistics of six pediatric surgical fellowships from 2015 to 2020. During the 6-year interval, a median of 12.2 pediatric ophthalmology fellowship positions (IQR, 12.1-12.4) were offered per 100 graduating residents, 8.7% of ophthalmology residents (IQR, 8.3%-9.3%) pursued pediatric subspecialty training, and 72% of available pediatric fellowship positions (IQR, 69%-74%) were filled. Pediatric general surgery had the highest percentage of available fellowship positions filled, 99% (IQR, 98%-100%), which was significantly higher than for pediatric ophthalmology (P = 0.024). None of the other subspecialties had a significant difference in available positions filled compared to pediatric ophthalmology (P > 0.05).