Implementation of a Structured Surgery Mentorship Program and Success in the Surgical Residency Match

Introduction: General Surgery residency programs remain competitive, with over a quarter of US MD seniors failing to match into a categorical program each year. While previous literature has shown the role of mentorship in attracting medical students to surgery, there is a dearth of information demonstrating the role of mentorship in successfully matching those students to surgery programs.Methods: We implemented a structured mentorship program for medical students inter-ested in applying to general surgery or integrated plastics, vascular, or cardiothoracic residencies over the course of one year, consisting of seven standardized meetings and events spanning the students' MS3 and MS4 years. Following Match Day, we sent students a five-point Likert scale survey to assess the perceived utility of each event and solicited self-reported application information.Results: Of the 22 students at a single institution who attended the structured mentorship program and applied to general surgery residency, 100% matched into a categorical pro-gram, significantly higher than the 73% national match rate of US MD seniors into general surgery (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences between the two cohorts in terms of United States Medical Licensing Examination board scores, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society status, or median number of publications, research experiences, work experiences, or volunteer experiences. Nineteen of the 22 students responded to the survey, yielding an 86% response rate. Ninety percent of the students attended at least six out of the seven events. Six out of the seven events had median helpfulness scores (out of five) that were significantly higher than a neutral baseline (P < 0.05).Conclusions: A structured mentorship program may play a useful role in successfully matching general surgery applicants to residencies and would be a simple and low-cost program to implement at other medical schools.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigates the role of mentorship in matching general surgery applicants to residency programs. By implementing a structured mentorship program, all participating students were successfully matched into categorical programs. The students expressed satisfaction with the mentorship program's activities and meetings, and perceived them to be helpful for their applications.