An In-Depth Analysis of Research Output in Successful Integrated Cardiothoracic Surgery Match Applicants and Factors Associated With Matching at Top-Ranked Programs

Purpose: Integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency (I6) is consistently one of the most competitive specialties, and with USMLE Step 1 scores becoming pass/fail, research output may become a more important factor for applicants. This study aims to develop a more comprehensive understanding of research productivity of matched applicants in integrated cardiothoracic surgery.

Methods: A list of integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency programs was identified using the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) website. Program websites were searched for the names of the matriculants, which includes interns when matriculated between the 2015 and 2022 academic years (n=239). Each resident’s year of graduation and attended medical school ranking (US News Best Medical Schools for Research and NIH funding rankings) were recorded. A search of peer-reviewed publications up to September before the matriculant’s match year was performed using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus for each resident. Bibliometric variables were analyzed including those associated with matching at higher tier Doximity reputation/research programs. The total number of publications, number of cardiothoracic surgery related publications, number of first authorships, number of citations per publication, and average impact factor of publishing journal were recorded for each resident. Descriptive statistics were used to detail variables of interest.

Results: 239 matriculants at 34 programs produced a total of 996 manuscripts. The mean and median number of publications per applicant was 3.899 +/- 5.139 and 2.000, respectively. The mean number of publications among students from US News Top 40 and non-Top 40 medical schools was 4.179 +/- 4.693 and 3.812 +/- 5.320, respectively. 47% of manuscripts were published in cardiothoracic surgery journals and 31% of publications were first author publications. 72.94%, 14.71%, and 12.35% of matriculants had between 0 and 4 publications, 5 and 10 publications, and > 10 publications, respectively. 87.29% of matriculants had between 0 and 2 first author publications, 8.05% had 3 and 5 first author publications, and 4.60% had >5 first author publications, respectively. The number of total publications, proportion of manuscripts published in cardiothoracic surgery-related journals, and attending a medical school associated with a higher tier reputation or research program were all associated with matching into a higher tier reputation program and higher tier research program (p < 0.05), respectively. The number of first-author studies and total cardiothoracic surgery-related publications were not associated with matching into both a higher ranked reputation and research tier program.

Conclusion: Research productivity, particularly total publications and cardiothoracic surgery-related research is associated with an increased likelihood of matching at a higher tier integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency. Students may also gain a competitive edge in the match by attending medical schools associated with higher tier reputation or research program.

Identify the source of the funding for this research project: N/A