Away Rotations at Integrated Thoracic Surgery Programs: Applicant and Program Director Perspectives

Abstract

Objective: Integrated thoracic surgery residency program (IP) applicants often complete away rotations to stand out from the objective standard criteria. Little is known about the perceptions of these rotations. We aimed to examine the perceptions of value, cost, and expectations of away rotations among IP applicants and program directors.

Design: Between March and April 2020, anonymous electronic surveys were distributed through e-mails gathered from the Electronic Residency Application Service and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education IP email list. A follow-up email was sent to all applicants and program directors 1 week after the initial request to improve response rate. Questions assessed the cost, frequency, goals, and objectives for away rotations, as well as the perceived value of these experiences.

Setting: United States PARTICIPANTS: All IP program directors and United States senior medical students who applied to our institution's IP during the 2019-2020 cycle.

Results: Seventy-eight US medical students participated in the 2020 IP Match with 65 applicants applying to our institution's IP. Thirty-three responses were obtained from applicants who applied to our program (51% response rate). Survey responses were obtained from 8 program directors (31% response rate). Ninety-four percent of applicant respondents completed an IP away rotation (n = 31). Fifty-seven percent of these applicants spent on average $5000 in total for away rotations (n = 19). Overall, applicants felt that away rotations helped refine their perception of program location, educational and operative experience, treatment of medical students, and collegiality. Applicants and program directors acknowledged that creating a good impression and finding a compatible program were central values for participating in away rotations. However, program directors viewed the overall strength of the applicant as the most important factor when evaluating applicants. Fifty-five percent of applicant respondents matched at an IP (n = 17) with 35% matching at an IP where they had completed an away rotation (n = 6).

Conclusion: Extended interactions that can help create good impressions and establish compatibility are benefits to away rotations. However, given the current application conditions imposed by the pandemic, future studies should examine the impact of no away rotations on the IP Match process so that moving forward applicants and program directors can continue to weigh benefits to the costs and logistics of completing an away rotation.

Keywords: away rotations; education; integrated thoracic surgery; medical students; program directors; residency.