Impact of a scholarly track on quality of residency program applicants

Introduction: It is generally believed that residency programs offering scholarly tracks attract higher quality applicants, although there is little evidence of this in the literature. We explored the impact of a clinician-educator track on the quality of applicants to our residency program by comparing the volume and characteristics of applicants before (2008-2011) and after (2012-2015) the track was introduced.

Methods: The total number of applications received was compared between the pre-track and post-track years. Among interviewees, data on United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 scores, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) scores, Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) scores, and proportion of candidates with an advanced degree (e.g. MPH, PhD) were compared. An online survey was administered to all interviewees in 2014-2015 to measure interest in the track.

Results: The total number of applications to the residency program increased significantly from the pre-track to the post-track years. Compared to the pre-track years, interviewees during the post-track years had statistically higher USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK scores, better MSPE scores, and were more likely to have an advanced degree. Two-thirds of survey respondents reported that the track increased their interest in the residency program.

Discussion: A residency clinician-educator track may be associated with increased overall interest from applicants, higher application volume, and better measures of applicant quality based on USMLE scores, MSPE scores, and proportion of candidates with an advanced degree. Residency programs may consider a potential increase in the quality of their applicants as an added benefit of offering a scholarly track.