Away Rotation Participation and Ophthalmology Match Outcomes

Background: Recent surveys suggest that a majority of students applying to the ophthalmology residency match participate in rotations that are not at their home institution (away rotations). There is limited information on the relationship between completion of away rotations, residency interview offers and match success rates. Purpose: To evaluate relationships between away rotation participation and ophthalmology residency interview offers and match success rates. Methods: The Texas Seeking Transparency in Application to Residency (Texas STAR) database compiles responses to the Texas STAR survey, an opt-in, anonymous survey offered to all graduating US MD/DO students to collect data on applicant metrics and match outcomes. This database was queried to analyze away rotation completion patterns and match outcomes of ophthalmology applicants during the 2018-2020 and 2022-2024 match cycles. The 2020-2021 cycle was excluded due to decreased away rotation participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main outcome measures were number of interviews offered, applicant interview rate, and match status. Results: Of 807 ophthalmology applicants who completed the Texas STAR survey, 549 (68.0%) completed an away rotation. Completing an away rotation significantly increased the odds of interviewing and matching at that specific program (interview OR = 19.4 95% CI, 16.7-22.6, p < 0.001; match OR = 16.7 95% CI, 13.8-20.2, p < 0.001). Applicants who completed away rotations outside their home region (remote rotations) received more interview offers from that region than those who did not (Northeastern: 3.8 vs. 2.0; Southern: 4.0 vs. 2.5; Central: 3.1 vs. 1.9; Western: 2.0 vs. 1.0 p < 0.01 for all). However, after excluding specific programs where an away rotation was completed, a remote rotation only increased the odds of receiving an interview in the Western and Southern regions (Western OR = 1.2 95% CI, 1.0-1.5, p < 0.05; Southern OR = 1.2 95% CI, 1.1-1.4, p < 0.05) and did not increase the odds of matching in any region where that rotation was completed. Conclusions: Ophthalmology away rotations are associated with increased odds of interviewing and matching at programs where rotations are completed. Excluding the program where the rotation was completed, remote rotations were associated with increased regional interview likelihood in the Southern and Western regions but were not associated with improved odds of matching in a specific region. These data may guide ophthalmology applicant choices regarding away rotation completion.