Exploring Recent Changes to the New Urology Residency Match
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Abstract
Introduction:
This study assesses the effects of the recent changes to the urology residency match process.
Methods:
We emailed an anonymous, multiple-choice survey to each candidate who applied to any of our 3 urology programs for the 2024 Urology Residency Match.
Results:
Of the 433 candidates invited, 146 (33.7%) completed the survey. Of the 133 respondents who matched, 38.3% matched where they did an away subinternship (sub-I), 20.3% matched with their home program, and 91.0% matched with a program where they sent a preference signal (PS); only 8 respondents (6.0%) matched with a program where they did not complete a sub-I or send a PS. Of the 4 candidates who did not take Step 2 before submitting their application, only 1 matched. The 126 applicants who completed 3 or more sub-Is, including the home sub-I, had a higher match rate (95.2%) than the 20 applicants who completed 1 or 2 (65.0%, P < .0005). Disclosing any geographic preferences was associated with a decreased probability of matching (relative risk = 0.89, P < .05).
Conclusions:
Taking Step 2 before submitting applications and completing 3 or more sub-Is were both correlated with a higher match rate. Geographic signaling was correlated with a lower match rate. There was little benefit to applying to programs outside of those where the applicant had completed a sub-I or sent a PS. Future candidates should consider these findings early in the application process. These findings should be taken into consideration when making future changes to the application process.
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Recusal: Dr Campbell is a member of the Urology Practice® editorial committee and was recused from the editorial and peer review processes.
Funding/Support: None.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: The Authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Ethics Statement: This study was deemed exempt from Institutional Review Board review.
Author Contributions:
Conception and design: Miranda, Alvarez-Suarez, Munoz-Lopez, Dewitt-Foy, Khouri, Shain, Hudak.
Data analysis and interpretation: Alvarez-Suarez, Munoz-Lopez, Rodriguez-Alvarez, Han, Khouri, Shain.
Drafting the manuscript: Alvarez-Suarez, Munoz-Lopez, Rodriguez-Alvarez, Khouri, Shain, Hudak.
Critical revision of the manuscript for scientific and factual content: Miranda, Alvarez-Suarez, Munoz-Lopez, Rodriguez-Alvarez, Han, Dewitt-Foy, Khouri, Shain.
Statistical analysis: Rodriguez-Alvarez, Khouri, Shain.
Supervision: Miranda, Alvarez-Suarez, Munoz-Lopez, Rodriguez-Alvarez, Han, Dewitt-Foy, Khouri, Hudak.