PURPOSE: 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. METHOD: Comparative study of 317 dermatology residency applicants during the 2007 application season. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: 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0.001); and number of unpublished manuscripts (p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analysis revealed that the USMLE Step 1 score (p=0.001), medical school research rank (p=0.040), and total number of unpublished manuscripts (p=0.046) were significantly associated matching in dermatology.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 CONCLUSIONS: Applicants that list multiple unpublished manuscripts have a significant competitive advantage in matching into a dermatology residency, even if these manuscripts remain unpublished.
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Maverakis et al. (2012) studied this question.