Resident Selection of Hand Surgery Fellowships: A Survey of the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Hand Fellowship Graduates

Abstract

We desired information from the recent, current, and future matched hand surgery fellows regarding their residency training, number of interviews, position matched, cost of interviewing, influences, opinions on future hand training models, and post-fellowship job information. Institutional review board approval was obtained from our institution to submit an online survey. An email was sent to the coordinators of all US Hand Fellowships to be forwarded to their fellows with graduation years 2011, 2012, and 2013, as well as directly to the fellows if their email addresses were provided. Data on the application process, relative importance of program attributes, and opinions regarding optimal training of a hand surgeon were collected. Statistical analysis was performed with respect to the training background and graduation year of the respondent. The survey was completed by 137 hand surgery fellows. Seventy-one percent of the survey responders were from an orthopedic residency background, 20% from plastic, and 7% from general surgery. Forty-four percent of all of the respondents matched into their first choice. The type of operative cases performed by the current fellows was most often selected as very important when making their rank list. Seventy-seven percent of the respondents reflected their personal preference in fellowship model to be a 1-year fellowship program. The field of hand surgery is unique in that it has residents from multiple training backgrounds who all apply to one fellowship. The current fellowship model allows for diversity of training and the possibility of obtaining a second fellowship if desired.