M.C. Xu1, A.A. Fuleihan1, S. Koeneman3, B. Abai2, M. Nooromid2 1Thomas Jefferson University, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, USA 2Thomas Jefferson University, Division Of Vascular And Endovascular Surgery, Department Of Surgery, Philadelphia, PA, USA 3Thomas Jefferson University, Division Of Biostatics And Bioinformatics, Physiology And Cancer Biology, Department Of Pharmacology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Introduction:
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading global cause of death, underscoring an urgent need for more vascular surgeons to address the demand for specialized care. Integrated Vascular Surgery Residencies (IVSR) are an accelerated training option for medical school graduates. Due to the relatively recent establishment of these programs in 2006, factors influencing successful matches remain unclear. This study aims to explore the influence of medical school characteristics on IVSR match success.
Methods:
A list of the ACGME-accredited training programs was obtained from the Society for Vascular Surgery. Public websites were accessed in June to complete a list of residents. International graduates were excluded. Individual characteristics were obtained from program websites and publicly available pages (Doximity, Twitter, and LinkedIn, etc.).
Medical school characteristics, such as class size, NIH funding, and faculty number, were sourced from the AAMC or university pages. Ranking for medical schools and residency programs was categorized based on 2023 U.S. News rankings, which are publicly available. Statistical analysis was performed to identify correlations between medical school characteristics and the matching success of medical school graduates into a top 50 vascular surgery residency.
Results:
A total of 372 residents from 69 unique medical schools were included in the study. Overall, 39 (10.5%) residents had additional graduate degrees, and 59 (15.9%) residents had been elected to AOA. 265 (71.2%) residents came from institutions with a vascular surgery interest group (VSIG). The number of residents from tier 1, 2, and 3 medical schools was 114 (30.6%), 131 (35.2%), and 59 (15.9%), respectively. As seen in Table 1, being from a tier 1 U.S. News ranked medical school and presence of a VSIG in medical school both correlated with matching into a top 50 vascular surgery residency program.
Conclusion:
When evaluating factors affecting matching into a top 50 vascular surgery program, the strongest favorable impact was medical school rank. Notably, the presence of a VSIG also correlated with matching at a top 50 program. This is cogent as VSIGs are an avenue for student engagement via mentorship, research and clinical opportunities. This study had several limitations. It relied on publicly available information about IVSR residents, supplemented by Google searches. An additional limitation includes the use of U.S. News rankings, which does not apply to foreign medical graduates. Given the impact of VSIGs on successful matching, establishment of VSIGs at medical schools should be encouraged.