The effect of academic "misrepresentation" on residency match outcomes.
OBJECTIVE
Studies have uniformly demonstrated misrepresentation of accomplishments by applicants to residency programs; yet it is unknown whether such applicants have a competitive advantage in the MATCH. Herein we identify the factors that influence an applicant's successful selection to a competitive residency.


METHODS
Comparative study of 317 dermatology residency applicants during the 2007 application season.


METHODS
successful matching of an applicant into a U.S. dermatology residency.


RESULTS
Factors positively associated with matching in univariate analysis included age (p=0.023); membership, Alpha Omega Alpha honors society (p=0.007); medical school research rank (p=0.013); USMLE scores (p<0.001); and number of unpublished manuscripts (p<0.001). Factors not associated with matching included the number of published manuscripts (p=0.460) and the combined impact factor of all published manuscripts (p=0.490). Multivariate analysis revealed that the USMLE Step 1 score (p=0.001), medical school research rank (p=0.040), and total number of unpublished manuscripts (p=0.046) were significantly associated matching in dermatology. Male gender trended towards but did not reach significance (p=0.054).


CONCLUSIONS
Applicants that list multiple unpublished manuscripts have a significant competitive advantage in matching into a dermatology residency, even if these manuscripts remain unpublished.
Department of Dermatology, University of California Davis, Sacramento, USA.
Emanual
E
Maverakis
Chin-Shang
CS
Li
Ali
A
Alikhan
Tzu-Chun
TC
Lin
Nayla
N
Idriss
April W
AW
Armstrong
D003880:Dermatology / Q000193:education*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005607:Fraud; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000941:ethics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010560:Personnel Selection; D011642:Publications