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Comparative Analysis of MD and DO Applicants to Plastic Surgery Residency
Sara G Yacoub, MPH; Maura Guyler, BA; Agnes Zak, DO; Riley Marlar, DO; Rommy Obeid, BS; William Leavitt III, MD; Steven Bernard, MD; Raymond Isakov, MD; Antonio Rampazzo, MD/PhD; Bahar Bassiri Gharb, MD/PhD
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
2025-01-10
Presenter: Sara Yacoub
Affidavit:
Submitter/presenter (Sara Yacoub) completed writing and data analysis and majority of study design. She received help and consultation regarding data extraction.
Director Name: Bahar Bassiri Gharb, MD, PhD
Author Category: Medical Student
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: General Reconstruction
DO applicants consistently match into integrated plastic surgery residency at lower rates than MD applicants. Applications to a large integrated plastic surgery residency program with a dedicated DO position were analyzed from 2020-2023. Residents and faculty scored applications on research (1-5), letters of recommendation (LOR) (1-5), and USMLE Step 1 and 2 (1-2), which summed to the total score. Residency match outcomes were verified using program rosters, Doximity, and social media. Logistic regression modeling assessed comparative odds of matching into residency between MD and DO applicants in the full dataset and a 3:1 MD to DO cohort matched by USMLE, research, and LOR scores. In the full dataset (MDs = 864, DOs = 46), MDs had significantly higher objective and subjective metrics (p<0.05 for all) compared to DOs. Adjusted logistic regression of the full dataset showed that MDs had 8.44 times the odds of matching compared to DOs (p = 7.88E-6). In the 3:1 MD to DO cohort, MDs had 6.19 times the odds of matching into plastic surgery compared to similarly-qualified DOs (p = 1.00E-4). While MD applicants were evenly distributed across total score quartiles, DO applicants were concentrated in the lowest quartile and were significantly less successful within this group. DO applicants with similar qualifications to MDs have significantly lower odds of matching into integrated plastic surgery residency programs, highlighting a potential bias. Nonetheless, the significant differences in scored metrics highlight opportunities for DO applicants to improve their competitiveness.
