Away Rotations and Urogynecology Fellowship Match: A Retrospective Study

IMPORTANCE: Whether performing an away rotation increases fellowship match success is important for both cost and logistic considerations. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine whether away rotations increase the likelihood of urogynecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery (URPS) match success. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective analysis of 246 applications to Indiana University URPS fellowship between 2015 and 2019. Variables included match success, whether an away rotation was performed, demographic data, medical school and residency descriptors, examination scores, prior research, personal statements and letters of recommendation. Data were summarized for the overall cohort and by URPS match (yes/no). The t test was used to compare continuous variables with normal distributions, the Wilcoxon rank sum test for nonnormal distributions, and the χ2 test for categorical variables. Univariate logistic regression was performed to test the association of each variable collected with the URPS match. Backward selection was used to determine variables to include in multivariable logistic regression and identify independent predictors of URPS match success. RESULTS: Of the 245 applicants for whom match data were available, 80 performed a URPS away rotation and 171 (69.8%) successfully matched into a URPS fellowship. Approximately 34% (33.9%) who matched performed a URPS away rotation versus 30.1% (P value 0.57) who did not. Successful match applicants were younger (adjusted OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.73, 0.92), had presented at a URPS-related scientific meeting (adjusted OR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.25-5.13), and had higher personal statement scores (adjusted OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01-1.21). CONCLUSIONS: URPS away rotations do not increase the likelihood of match success. Conducting URPS research is likely a more productive focus.