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. 2023 Dec 10:15:100228.
doi: 10.1016/j.sipas.2023.100228. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Recent trends in hand surgery fellowship applicants and programs

Christopher P Bellaire  1   2 , Emily M Graham  3 , Lauren M Bracey  4 , Harrison R Ferlauto  1   2 , Caleigh Weliver  1 , Shaun D Mendenhall  3 , Eitan Melamed  1   2
Affiliations

Recent trends in hand surgery fellowship applicants and programs

Christopher P Bellaire et al. Surg Pract Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Hand surgery is a competitive fellowship that draws applicants from orthopedic, plastic, and general surgery. In 2010, recommendations from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Board of Specialty Societies Match Oversight Committee and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Plastic Surgery Workforce Task Force led to significant reforms to their respective workforces and training. This study characterizes trends in hand fellowship applicants and programs since these recommendations (2010-2023).

Materials and methods: We queried hand fellowship applicant and program data from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH), the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Results discussion and conclusions: From 2010 to 2023, the number of ACGME-accredited hand fellowship programs increased across specialties (orthopedic surgery, 58 to 74 (27.6 % increase, R = 0.97, p < 0.001); plastic surgery, 14 to 19 (35.7 % increase, R = 0.91, p < 0.001); general surgery, 1 to 2 (50 % increase, R = 0.71, p = 0.004). The number of available fellowship positions commensurately increased by 38.8 % over the same time period. The number of applicants did not significantly change between 2010 (155 applicants) and 2023 (198 applicants) (R = 0.32, p = 0.27). The ratio of applicants-to-positions significantly decreased from 2010 (1.12 applicants per position) to 2023 (1.04 applicants per position) (R = -0.74, p = 0.003). Yet, applicants ranked nearly twice as many programs in 2023 (14.9 programs per applicant) compared to in 2010 (7.5 programs per applicant) (R = 0.98, p < 0.001). In light of the American Orthopaedic Association endorsing signal preferencing in the 2022-2023 residency Match, strategies to optimize rank lists in the fellowship application process should be further explored.

Keywords: Applicants; Hand fellowship; Hand surgery; Match; Medical Education; Programs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Statement of Informed Consent: Not applicable. Statement of Human and Animal Rights: This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects. Statement of Funding: The authors declare that they have no sources of funding.

Figures

Fig 1:
Fig. 1
Trends in the Number of Hand Fellowship Programs by Specialty Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for years 2010–2023. Pearson's Correlations were used to determine strength and significance of correlation.
Fig 2:
Fig. 2
Trends in the Number of Applicants and Positions for Hand Surgery Fellowship, using data from the National Resident Matching Program from 2010 to 2023. Pearson's Correlations were used to determine strength and significance of correlation.
Fig 3:
Fig. 3
Trends in Hand Fellowship Applicants Per Position Offered, using data from the National Resident Matching Program from 2010 to 2023. Pearson's Correlations were used to determine strength and significance of correlation.
Fig 4:
Fig. 4
Trends in the Number of Ranked Programs Per Applicant, using data from the National Resident Matching Program from 2010 to 2023. Pearson's Correlations were used to determine strength and significance of correlation.
Fig 5:
Fig. 5
Trends in the Total Number of Ranked Programs, using data from the National Resident Matching Program from 2010 to 2023. Pearson's Correlations were used to determine strength and significance of correlation.
Fig 6:
Fig. 6
Trends in the Average Number of Rankings Received by Fellowship Program, using data from the National Resident Matching Program from 2010 to 2023. Pearson's Correlations were used to determine strength and significance of correlation.
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