The Path to Success: An Analysis of the Subjective and Objective Characteristics of Orthopaedic Surgery Applicants With Program Director Insight

At present, there is uncertainty regarding the objective and subjective characteristics of competitive applicants for orthopaedic surgery residency (OSR). With the hope of enlightening future applicants and their orthopaedic surgeon mentors on what factors they ought to emphasize to successfully match into an OSR program, we summarized and analyzed the characteristics of OSR applicants between the 2020 and 2023 residency application cycles using data from the Texas Seeking Transparency in Application to Residency (STAR) database and insights from the 2020 National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) program director (PD) Survey. Factors considered in our analysis include standardized examination scores, class quartile, research output, extracurricular activities, and application characteristics, such as number of programs applied to, number of interviews attended, and match outcome. To elucidate the importance of more nonquantifiable metrics, we analyzed 423 subjective comments from OSR applicants found in the STAR database and compared them with relevant findings from the 2020 NRMP PD Survey. Of the 1,094 OSR applicants identified, 926 matched and 168 did not match, yielding a match rate of 84.64%. Matched applicants had markedly higher board examination scores, were more likely to be in the first and second quartiles of their class, had a higher number of honored clerkships, were more likely to have Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) membership, and overall had more research, volunteer, and leadership experiences. Our logistics regression analysis showed that being in the first quartile had the greatest effect on odds of matching, sequentially followed by having a United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 score above 250, having more leadership opportunities, and finally, more total research output. With respect to nonquantifiable metrics, applicants and PDs alike heavily emphasized performing well on subinternships and having desirable personal attributes such as a strong work ethic, willingness to learn, and understanding the importance of teamwork.