Vascular surgery exposure differentiates successful integrated vascular surgery Applicants

Abstract

BackgroundThe number of applicants to integrated vascular residencies continues to rise faster than available training positions. Numerous stakeholders in vascular surgery (VS) are invested in improving resources for medical student mentorship and VS exposure throughout medical school. The purpose of our study was to assess VS exposure factors for integrated VS applicants from the 2021 application cycle and determine which factors are related to matching successfully into VS residency. MethodsA 15-question anonymous survey evaluating applicant VS exposure, resources, and match outcome was developed. VS exposure in the following areas was specifically evaluated: VS conference attendance, VS student interest groups, vascular subinternship away rotations, and mentorship by vascular surgeons. The survey was disseminated on the 2021 Integrated VS Applicant Cycle GroupMe chat forum from April 2022 to August 2022. We used χ2 and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests to compare summary statistics between respondents who self-identified as having successfully matched vs respondents who did not match into an integrated VS program. ResultsA total of 125 applicants were identified and 54 applicants (44%) responded, including 48 who successfully matched into an integrated VS residency. The median regional and national VS conference attendance over the preceding year was 1 (interquartile range [IQR], 1-2), with greatest attendance reported at the Society for Vascular Surgery Vascular Annual Meeting (57% of respondents). A VS away rotation was completed by 42 (78%) respondents overall, with out-of-pocket expenditure reported as >$1000 and >$3000 by 69% and 21% of these applicants, respectively. If given the opportunity to visit interview sites in person after virtual interviews, applicants would have chosen to visit median of three 3 sites (IQR, 3-5 sites) on average. Most of the applicants who matched (77%) had a VS student interest group at their home institution. Those who matched assigned higher rating of perceived vascular mentorship during the application cycle (median, 10 [IQR, 9-10] vs median 5.5 [IQR, 4-9] on a 1-10 scale; P = .04). Applicants who matched also endorsed interest in VS earlier in medical school (median, year 2 [IQR, years 1-3] vs median, year 3 [IQR, years 3-3]; P = .03). Only 19% of applicants who matched and completed a VS away rotation reported matching at the same institution where they had completed their away rotation. ConclusionsVascular mentorship and early VS exposure are variables associated with a successful match into an integrated VS residency. Although exposure to an institution occurs with an away rotation, the cost to the applicant is not insignificant and most applicants do not match at the institution where the rotation occurred.