33331 Dermatology residency home match incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Following the recommendations put out by the Association of Professors of Dermatology (APD), most dermatology residency programs conducted virtual interviews for the 2020-2021 match during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, historically, in-person audition electives have been cited as a major factor for determining whether an applicant should be interviewed. This study aims to provide empirical data on how the pandemic may have influenced the incidence of matching into one’s home institution during the 2021 dermatology match cycle. We reviewed publicly available match data for 2017-2019 and 2021 for ERAS-participating integrated U.S. dermatology residencies, excluding the 2020 match due to limited availability of information on current residents exiting their transitional years. Information was available for 69 out of 123 programs (56%) for the 2021 match and an average of 65 programs for 2017, 2018, and 2019. The overall percentage of home matches increased from an average of 23.7% for the 2017-2019 matches to 30.9% in 2021 (P = .025). When data were analyzed by logistic regression, programs in the 2021 virtual interview cycle had statistically significant greater odds of matching at least one home applicant than when compared with the 2017-2019 interview cycles (OR = 2.3, P = .02). Home matching appeared to occur more frequently with programs having more spots than the national median (4) (P = .00001). Virtual interviewing and rotations may put those without a home program at a disadvantage, and strategies directed at closing this gap should be explored as institutions move to hybrid models.