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Medical Education

Trends in US Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship Applications During the COVID-19 Pandemic vs Previous Years

Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article

1 Credit CME

JAMA Network Open

Published Online: April 28, 2021

Research Letter

Article Information and Disclosures

Laura A. Huppert, MD¹;

Lekshmi Santhosh, MD, MAEd²;

Jennifer M. Babik, MD, PhD³

Author Affiliations

¹Hematology/Oncology Division, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
²Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
³Infectious Disease Division, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco

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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected medical education,¹ from disrupting trainee schedules to introducing virtual residency and fellowship interviews.² The effect on application patterns to internal medicine (IM) residency and subspecialty fellowships is unknown. We evaluated the number of applicants and number of applications submitted per applicant to IM residency and subspecialty fellowships for 2021 vs the 5 prior application cycles.

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Article Information

Accepted for Publication: March 9, 2021.

Published: April 28, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.8199

Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License. © 2021 Huppert LA et al. JAMA Network Open.

Corresponding Author: Laura A. Huppert, MD, Hematology/Oncology Division, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Ave, Room M1286, San Francisco, CA 94143 (laura.huppert@ucsf.edu).

Author Contributions: Drs Huppert and Babik had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Concept and design: All authors.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: All authors.

Drafting of the manuscript: All authors.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors.

Statistical analysis: Huppert, Babik.

Supervision: Babik.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Funding/Support: This publication was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through UCSF-CTSI grant UL1 TR001872.

Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

References

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Huppert LA , Hsiao EC , Cho KC , et al. Virtual interviews at graduate medical education training programs: determining evidence-based best practices. Acad Med. Published online December 8, 2020. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000003868 Google Scholar

AAMC. ERAS statistics. Accessed January 11, 2021. https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/interactive-data/eras-statistics-data

von Elm E , Altman DG , Egger M , Pocock SJ , Gøtzsche PC , Vandenbroucke JP ; STROBE Initiative. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. Lancet. 2007;370(9596):1453-1457. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61602-X PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

Marbin J , Hutchinson Y-V , Schaeffer S . Avoiding the virtual pitfall: identifying and mitigating biases in graduate medical education videoconference interviews. Acad Med. Published online January 12, 2021. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000003914 Google Scholar

Hammoud MM , Standiford T , Carmody JB . Potential implications of COVID-19 for the 2020-2021 residency application cycle. JAMA. 2020;324(1):29-30. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.8911 PubMed Google Scholar Crossref

AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
1.00 CME points in the American Board of Surgery’s (ABS) Continuing Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.