Abstract
BACKGROUND: The cost and stress of applying to residency programs are increasing. Planning for interviews with limited lead time can cause additional burden to residency applicants. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine if the specialty of orthopaedics was affording the same lead time between interview invitation and interview dates as its surgical and medical counterparts. METHODS: Dates for the first interview invitation and last possible interview were gathered for each program in orthopaedic surgery, general surgery, otolaryngology, vascular surgery, plastic surgery, neurological surgery, internal medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, and family medicine. Interview lead time was calculated for each specialty. Mann-Whitney U and independent sample Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for nonparametric data with P < .05 considered as significant. RESULTS: Orthopaedic surgery lead time is significantly different when compared individually and pairwise to other specialties (P < .05 for all comparisons), with a median lead time of 57 days. The next lowest lead time specialty is otolaryngology with a 70-day lead time. The specialty with the longest is pediatrics (median 106 days). CONCLUSIONS: Residency programs (orthopaedic surgery in particular) vary widely in the amount of lead time given to schedule and attend interviews. The authors propose that interview invitations be extended into mid-October.