Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Effect of Medical School Reputation and Alpha Omega Alpha Membership on the Orthopedic Residency Match in the United States

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Medical Science Educator Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction: There are a number of factors used to evaluate applicants to orthopedic training programs, including medical school reputation and membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AOA). It is unknown if these selection factors are weighted more heavily at top ranked, academic orthopedic residency programs. The purpose of this study was to compare these factors between applicants who matched at the top 25 orthopedic residency programs and those who matched at all other orthopedic programs.

Methods: We performed a search to determine the AOA membership status and medical school of origin for each intern in the 2013–2014 residency class whose identity was available publicly. Percentage of residents who belonged to AOA and percentage who had attended a U.S. News top 25 medical school were compared at the top 25 orthopedic programs (based on National Institutes of Health [NIH] funding and U.S. News rank) against all other orthopedic programs.

Results: Orthopedic programs affiliated with departments in the top 25 for NIH funding matched significantly more applicants who belonged to AOA. Orthopedic programs in the top 25 for department or medical school NIH funding, or medical school U.S. News rank, matched significantly more applicants who had attended top 25 medical schools.

Discussion: Top 25 orthopedic residency programs matched more applicants who had attended top 25 medical schools and who were AOA members. These results provide accurate baseline information regarding the applicant pool and are informative of the general trends in the orthopedic surgery match.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. DePasse JM, Palumbo MA, Eberson CP, Daniels AH. Academic characteristics of orthopaedic surgery residency applicants from 2007 to 2014. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2016;98(9):788–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Charting outcomes in the match: characteristics of applicants who matched to their preferred specialty in the 2011 main residency match. National Resident Matching Program.

  3. Charting outcomes in the match: characteristics of applicants who matched to their preferred specialty in the 2014 main residency match. National Resident Matching Program.

  4. Raman T, Alrabaa RG, Sood A, Maloof P, Benevenia J, Berberian W. Does residency selection criteria predict performance in orthopaedic surgery residency? Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2016;474(4):908–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Green M, Paul J, Thomas JX. Selection criteria for residency: results of a national program directors survey. Acad Med. 2009;84(3):362–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Crane JT, Ferraro CM. Selection criteria for emergency medicine residency applicants. Acad Emerg Med. 2000;7(1):54–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bernstein AD, Jazrawi LM, Elbeshbeshy B, DellaValle CJ, Zuckermann JD. Orthopaedic resident-selection criteria. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2002;84(11):2090–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Campbell ST, Gupta R, Avedian RS. The effect of applicant publication volume on the orthopaedic residency match. J Surg Educ. 2016;73(3):490–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education: Accredited programs and sponsoring institutions. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; Available from: https://www.acgme.org/acgmeweb/tabid/172/GraduateMedicalEducation/AccreditedProgramsandSponsoringInstitutions.aspx.

  10. Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society: Locate a member. Available from: http://alphaomegaalpha.org/index.html.

  11. U.S. News & World Report: Best medical schools research 2014. Available from: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings?int=98fd08.

  12. Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research: List of NIH research awards. Available from: http://www.brimr.org/NIH_Awards/NIH_Awards.htm.

  13. Wood JS, David LR. Outcome analysis of factors impacting the plastic surgery match. Ann Plast Surg. 2010;64(6):770–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Rinard JR, Garol BD, Shenoy AB, Mahabir RC. Successfully matching into surgical specialties: an analysis of national resident matching program data. J Grad Med Educ. 2010;2(3):316–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, Redwood City, CA, USA

    Sean Thomas Campbell & Raffi Avedian

  2. Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford Hospital and Clinics, 300 Pasteur Drive, Room R144, Stanford, CA, 94305-5341, USA

    Sean Thomas Campbell

  3. School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

    Garwin Chin & Ryan Gupta

Authors
  1. Sean Thomas Campbell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Garwin Chin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ryan Gupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Raffi Avedian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sean Thomas Campbell.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g., consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

Funding

The authors report no external funding source for this study.

Humans and Animals Rights and Informed Consent

No data was collected from humans or animals for this study; all data was publicly available.

Work was conducted primarily at Stanford University and secondarily at the University of California, Irvine.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Campbell, S.T., Chin, G., Gupta, R. et al. The Effect of Medical School Reputation and Alpha Omega Alpha Membership on the Orthopedic Residency Match in the United States. Med.Sci.Educ. 27, 503–507 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-017-0420-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-017-0420-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation