The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Match Results, a Cohort Study

Background The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the 2021 Orthopaedic residency recruitment process by eliminating visiting rotations and in-person interviews. In the fields of Plastic Surgery and Urology, this led to a significant increase in the rate at which residency applicants matched into residency at the same institution (“home match”) as their medical school. This study sought to investigate the effects the pandemic had on the outcomes of the 2021 Orthopaedic Surgery Match compared to the preceding four cycles 2017-2020. Methods A list of all Orthopaedic Surgery residency programs with an affiliated medical school was obtained using ORINTM and Doximity. Program websites and official social media accounts were used to gather resident information including class year, medical school, and medical school state. Outcomes of interest were home matches and matches within the same region or state as one’s medical school. Results The rate of home matches increased by 41% from 22% in 2017-2020 to 31% in 2021 (p<0.001). This increased rate was consistent across medical school regions and sub-regions, as well as across program sizes and reputation rankings. Southern programs had a higher rate of home matches than all other regions both at baseline in 2017-2020 28% v. 20% (p<0.001) and in 2021 36% v. 28% (p<0.001). Conclusions In 2021, the first residency match affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of home matches increased compared to the prior four cycles. This may be a result of the inability of prospective residents to visit programs in-person during an away rotation or interview, resulting in programs preferring individuals they already knew via their affiliated medical school. Many pandemic-related changes such as virtual rotations and virtual interviews might stay for the long term; it will be interesting to see how these impact Orthopaedic Residency recruitment and resulting Match characteristics in subsequent cycles.