A Survey of Selection Criteria in General Surgery Residency Programs George Makdisi MD 1 Tetsuya Takeuchi MD 2 James Rucinski MD 2 Leslie Wise MD 2 1 Department of Surgery, Sound Shore Medical Center, NY Medical College. 2 Department of Surgery, NY Methodist Hospital and Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Aims of the study To evaluate the homogeneity of the selection process between programs To find the most important criteria used by programs to select their residents To clarify the selection process for medical students interested in choosing surgery as a career

Methods A 24-question survey including 14 common criteria of resident selection Sent to Program Directors, Chairs and Associate Program Directors in the United States (246 programs) and Canada (19 programs) 2 series – 263 Valid replies – 65% Response Rate

Respondent Demog ra phics Respondents : 67% Program director 17% Chair 11% Both 5% Associate Program Director

Program Characteristics Program Description 49% - university hospital programs 38% - university affiliated 13% - non university affiliate programs Categorical program size varied from 2 to 15 graduating Chief Residents / year

571 applicants / program 72 applicants / program granted an interview 15 applicants /categorical position granted an interview Program Recruiting Experience

Resident Demographics 96% of all programs have female residents 66% have international graduates (non LCME) 38% have DO residents

Screening selection Screening selection by Program Director – 62% Associate Program Director – 17% 31% of programs show selection criteria on web page The most important criteria: USMLE step1 - 37% USLME step2 - 24% LCME student - 15%

Final selection by Program Director – 56% Final selection by Faculty Team - 30% Strict application of selection criteria – 86%

86% consider research experience in selection criteria 46% have research activities in program curriculum 14% have one year research obligation 47% require at least one publication before graduation

Likert Scale (5 Point) Interview - most important factor points USLME step 1 score points Letter of recommendation points USMLE step 2 score- 4.0 points LCME graduate points Previous Preliminary year points Least important factor

Selection criteria exist in all surgical residencies Resident selection remains subjective & program-specific USMLE step 1: the most important Screening factor Interview: the most important Final Selection factor

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