Introduction
Resident attrition refers to programmatic loss of residents prior to their graduation from the program. Preventing resident attrition is vital when accounting for the significant resources that are devoted to recruiting and training residents, as well as the limited number of residency spots. Residency has been broadly affected by COVID19, and the impact of virtual residency interviews during COVID19 on resident selection and resident attrition is unclear. This study sought to assess changes in resident attrition patterns amongst residents matched under the virtual interview system.
Methods
A retrospective study was conducted using the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Data Resource Books starting from 2011-2012 and ending with 2021-2022. Data regarding total number of residents and number of resident attritions per year overall and for each individual specialty was exported. Control charts were then created using the data for the academic years 2011-2012 to 2021-2022. Any data point found outside of three standard deviations from the average was noted to be a significant change in pattern.
Results
Data from 1,452,594 residents from the academic years 2011-2012 to 2021-2022 were analyzed. There were 25,651 resident attritions during this period with the average attrition rate of 2,331 resident attritions per year. The overall attrition rate control chart showed no statistically significant change in resident attrition over the period studied. In addition, no individual specialty showed a statistically significant deviation during the period studied. The years reflecting COVID19 (2019-2020 through 2021-2022) demonstrated a small, statistically insignificant decrease in attrition. This pattern was largely true for all individual specialties as well.
Conclusions
The results of this study show that resident attrition has not increased as residents selected through a virtual-interview match process matriculate. In contrast, this study found a small, statistically insignificant decrease in overall residency attrition during COVID19 and amongst residents who matched via a virtual-interview match process. This would suggest that virtual interviews are a noninferior alternative to in-person interviews in the residency match process regarding residency attrition.
References
1) Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Data Resource Books. ACGME. Years 2011-2012 through 2021-2022. https://www.acgme.org/about/publications-and-resources/graduate-medical-education-data-resource-book/.