Table 2.
Importance of applicant factors based on all responders and then stratified by specialty (Percentage, 95% Confidence Interval)
| All responders | Primarycare specialties | Surgical specialties | Other specialties | P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age of Candidate | Ext/very important | 10/710 (1.4,0.5–2.3) | 5/237 (2.1,0.3–3.9) | 3/169 (1.8,0–3.8) | 2/302 (0.7,0–1.6) | 0.33 |
| Not at all/slight important | 700/710 (98.6,97.7,99.5) | 232/237 (97.9,96.1–99.7) | 166/169 (98.2,96.2–100) | 300/302 (99.3,98.4–100) | ||
| Sex of Candidate | Ext/very important | 13/698 (1.9,0.9–2.9) | 1/246 (0.4,0–1.2) | 6/169 (3.6,0.8–6.3) | 6/281 (2.1,0.4–3.8) | 0.06 |
| Not at all/slight important | 685/698 (98.1,97.1–99.1) | 245/246 (99.6,98.8–100) | 163/169 (96.4,93.7–99.2) | 275/281 (97.9,96.2–99.6) | ||
| Ethnicity of Candidate | Ext/very important | 51/565 (9.0,6.7–11.4) | 17/182 (9.3,5.1–13.6) | 13/149 (8.7,4.2–13.3) | 21/232 (9.1,5.3–12.8) | 0.98 |
| Not at all/slight important | 514/565 (91.0,88.6–93.3) | 165/182 (90.7,86.4–94.9) | 136/149 (91.3,86.7–95.8) | 211/232 (90.9,87.2–94.7) | ||
| Proximity of candidate’s hometown to your program | Ext/very important | 82/522 (15.7,12.6–18.8) | 42/167 (25.2,18.5–31.8) | 15/158 (9.5,4.9–14.1) | 25/197 (12.7,8.0–17.4) | 0.0002 |
| Not at all/slight important | 440/522 (84.3,81.2–87.4) | 125/167 (74.8,68.2–81.5) | 143/158 (90.5,85.9–95.1) | 172/197 (87.3,82.6–92.0) | ||
| Previous career prior to medicine | Ext/very important | 32/582 (5.5,3.6–7.4) | 8/193 (4.2,1.3–7.0) | 11/144 (7.6,3.3–12.0) | 13/243 (5.4,2.5–8.2) | 0.38 |
| Not at all/slight important | 550/582 (94.5,92.6–96.4) | 185/193 (95.8,93.0–98.7) | 133/144 (92.4,88.0–96.7) | 230/243 (94.6,91.8–97.5) | ||
| Class Rank | Ext/very important | 136/456 (29.8,25.6–34.0) | 26/159 (16.4,10.6–22.1) | 45/106 (42.5,33.0–51.9) | 64/190 (33.7,26.9–73.1) | < 0.0001 |
| Not at all/slight important | 320/456 (70.2,66.0–74.4) | 133/159 (83.6,77.9–89.4) | 61/106 (57.5,48.1–67.0) | 126/190 (66.3,59.6–73.1) | ||
| Passing the USMLE | Ext/very important | 239/271 (88.2,84.3–92.1) | 91/106 (85.9,79.2–92.5)) | 49/58 (84.5,75.1–93.9) | 98/106 (92.5,87.4–97.5) | 0.21 |
| Not at all/slight important | 32/271 (11.8,7.9–15.7) | 15/106 (14.1,7.5–20.8) | 9/58 (15.5,6.1–24.9) | 8/106 (7.5,2.5–12.6) | ||
| Grades on core clerkships | Ext/very important | 261/330 (79.1,74.7–83.5) | 79/108 (73.2,64.7–81.6) | 71/85 (83.5,75.6–91.5) | 110/136 (80.9,74.2–87.5) | 0.17 |
| Not at all/slight important | 69/330 (20.9,16.5–25.3) | 29/108 (26.8,18.4–35.3) | 14/85 (16.5,8.5–24.4) | 26/136 (19.1,12.5–25.8) | ||
| Dean’s letter | Ext/very important | 192/389 (49.4,44.4–54.3) | 63/135 (46.7,38.2–55.1) | 47/102 (46.1,36.4–55.8) | 82/152 (54.0,46.0–61.9) | 0.35 |
| Not at all/slight important | 197/389 (50.6,45.7–55.6) | 72/135 (53.3,44.9–61.8) | 55/102 (53.9,44.2–63.6) | 70/152 (46.0,38.1–54.0) | ||
| Letters of recommendations | Ext/very important | 247/356 (69.4,64.6–74.2) | 74/137(54.0,45.6–62.4) | 65/80 (81.3,72.7–89.8) | 108 /139 (77.7,70.7–84.7) | < 0.0001 |
| Not at all/slight important | 109/356 (30.6,25.8–35.4) | 63/137 (46.0,37.6–54.4) | 15/80 (18.7,10.2–27.3) | 31/139 (22.3,15.3–29.3) | ||
| Personal statement | Ext/very important | 251/391 (64.2,59.4–69.0) | 88/140 (62.9,54.8–70.9) | 55/86 (64.0,53.8–74.1) | 107/164 (65.2,57.9–72.6) | 0.91 |
| Not at all/slight important | 140/391 (35.8,31.0–40.6) | 52/140 (37.1,29.1–45.2) | 31/86 (36.0,25.9–46.2) | 57/164 (34.8,27.4–42.1) | ||
| Interview | Ext/very important | 206/207 (99.5,98.6–100.0) | 79/79 (100.0) | 55/55 (100.0) | 71/72 (98.6,95.9–100) | 0.39 |
| Not at all/slight important | 1/207 (0.5,0–1.4) | 0/79 (0) | 0/55 (0) | 1/72 (1.4,0–4.1) | ||
| Involvement in research pertaining to their specialty | Ext/very important | 94/487 (19.3,15.8–22.8) | 8/201 (4.0,1.3–6.7) | 45/108 (41.7,32.3–51.0) | 41/177 (23.2,16.9–29.4) | < 0.0001 |
| Not at all/slight important | 393/487 (80.7,77.2–84.2) | 193/201 (96.0,93.3–98.7) | 63/108 (58.3,49.0–67.7) | 136/177 (76.8,70.6–83.1) | ||
| Involvement in research not pertaining to their specialty | Ext/very important | 40/559 (7.2,5.0–9.3) | 4/219 (1.8,0.05–3.6) | 17/109 (15.6,8.8–22.4) | 19/229 (8.3,4.7–11.9) | < 0.0001 |
| Not at all/slight important | 519/559 (92.8,90.7–95.0) | 215/219 (98.2,96.4–99.9) | 92/109 (84.4,77.6–91.2) | 210/229 (91.7,88.1–95.3) | ||
| Presenting their research at a regional or national scientific assembly | Ext/very important | 57/548 (10.4,7.8–13.0) | 8/212 (3.8,1.2–6.3) | 28/115 (24.4,16.5–32.2) | 21/219 (9.6,5.7–13.5) | < 0.0001 |
| Not at all/slight important | 491/548 (89.6,87.0–92.2) | 204/212 (96.2,93.7–98.8) | 87/115 (75.6,67.8–83.5) | 198/219 (90.4,86.5–94.3) | ||
| Publishing their research in a peer reviewed journal | Ext/very important | 84/557 (15.1,12.1–18.1) | 10/215 (4.7,1.8–7.5) | 41/116 (35.3,26.6–44.1) | 33/224 (14.7,10.1–19.3) | < 0.0001 |
| Not at all/slight important | 473/557 (84.9,81.9–87.9) | 205/215 (95.3,92.5–98.2) | 75/116 (64.7,55.9–73.4) | 191/224 (85.3,80.6–89.9) | ||
| Demonstrating leadership | Ext/very important | 260/372 (70.0,65.2–74.6) | 74/119 (62.2,53.4–70.9) | 73/91 (80.2,72.0–88.4) | 113/160 (70.6,63.5–77.7) | 0.02 |
| Not at all/slight important | 112/372 (30.0,25.4–34.8) | 45/119 (37.8,29.1–46.6) | 18/91 (19.8,11.6–28.0) | 47/160 (29.4,22.3–36.5) | ||
| Previous military experience | Ext/very important | 30/623 (4.8,3.1–6.5) | 5/215 (2.3,0.3–4.3) | 10/157 (6.4,2.5–10.2) | 15/249 (6.0,3.1–9.0_ | 0.10 |
| Not at all/slight important | 593/623 (95.2,93.5–96.9) | 210/215 (97.7,95.7–99.7) | 147/157 (93.6,89.8–97.5) | 234/249 (94.0,91.0–96.9) | ||
| Previous involvement in collegiate sports | Ext/very important | 43/627 (6.9,4.9–8.8) | 7/219 (3.2,0.9–5.5) | 23/141 (16.3,10.2–22.4) | 13/265 (4.9,2.3–7.5) | < 0.0001 |
| Not at all/slight important | 584/627 (93.1,91.2–95.1) | 212/219 (96.8,94.5–99.1) | 118/141 (83.7,77.6–89.8) | 252/265 (95.1,92.5–97.7) | ||
| Previous experience as a scribe | Ext/very important | 11/702 (1.6,0.6–2.5) | 4/238 (1.7,0.1–3.3) | 4/178 (2.3,0.1–4.4) | 3/284 (1.1,0–2.2) | 0.60 |
| Not at all/slight important | 691/702 (98.4,97.5–99.4) | 234/238 (98.3,96.7–99.9) | 174/178 (97.7,95.6–99.9) | 281/284 (98.9,97.8–100) | ||
| Previous involvement in global health | Ext/very important | 27/648 (4.2,2.6–5.7) | 10/223 (4.5,1.8–7.2) | 9/157 (5.7,2.1–9.4) | 8/266 (3.0,0.9–5.1) | 0.38 |
| Not at all/slight important | 621/648 (95.8,94.3–97.4) | 213/223 (95.5,92.8–98.2) | 148/157 (94.3,90.6–97.9) | 258/266 (97.0,94.9–99.1) | ||
| Community service involvement | Ext/very important | 170/415 (41.0,36.2–45.7) | 65/128 (50.8,42.1–59.5) | 41/112 (36.6,27.6–45.6) | 64/173 (37.0,29.8–44.2) | 0.03 |
| Not at all/slight important | 245/415 (59.0,54.3–63.8) | 63/128 (49.2,40.5–57.9) | 71/112 (63.4,54.4–72.4) | 109/173 (63.0,55.8–70.2) |