PS7-03: APPLICATION FACTORS AS PREDICTOR OF SUCCESS AMONG GENERAL SURGERY RESIDENTS
Sarah Hayek, MD1, Alison Wickizer2, Samantha Lane, MHS1, James Dove, BA1, Marie Hunsinger, BSHS, RN1, Marisa Clifton, MD1, Halle Ellison, MD1, Mohsen Shabahang, MD, PhD1; 1Geisinger, 2Bloomsburg University
Introduction: The recruitment process for a general surgery residency program is an important and time-consuming task faced by programs annually. The challenge is to determine which applicants will become successful general surgery residents. Recent data suggest medical school application materials may predict success in urology residency based on Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) milestones. The objective of this study is to determine if any application factors are predictive of resident success in general surgery based on ACGME milestones.
Methods: Information was collected retrospectively from the applications of 21 residents after completion of training at a single, general surgery program at a tertiary care center. Factors reviewed from applications included gender, age, clerkship scores, letters of recommendation (using a standardized objective rating tool), rank of the medical school, honors in surgery, United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) I and II scores, Alpha Omega Alpha membership, and peer-reviewed publications. These factors were correlated with resident success using multivariate regression. A group of senior faculty members determined milestone scores for the residents in the study group after completion of the residency. The general surgery ACGME milestones were used as a surrogate for success.
Results: There were few significant correlations between application factors and success as determined by ACGME milestones. Statistically significant findings included highly rated letters of recommendation which positively correlated to Patient Care 3 and Practice-Based Learning 2 (p= 0.02, p=0.02, respectively). USMLE I scores had a negative correlation to Systems-Based Practice 2 (p=0.04). The majority of the application factors reviewed did not display statistical significance on multivariate analysis. Of note, some of the factors that did not correlate with the milestones in a statistically significant manner included USMLE II scores, clerkship scores, rank of medical school and peer reviewed publications.
Conclusion: There were few correlations between application factors and resident success determined by the ACGME milestones. Application factors alone do not account for ongoing growth and development throughout residency. Unlike the results presented in the literature, predicting general surgery resident success based on application factors appears to be complex.