Abstract
Purpose This article aims to quantify the impact of research on matching into various tiers
of ophthalmology residency programs.
Design In this study, 340 applicants who matriculated into ophthalmology residency programs
in the United States from the class of 2019 were included. Data variables collected
for each applicant composed of the following: Hirsch's index (h-index), total number
of publications, journal impact factor, type of publication, and number of publications
relating to ophthalmology. The primary outcome was tier of ophthalmology program that
each applicant matched into, which was determined by two metrics: (1) the h-index
of the department's faculty and (2) overall reputation of the residency program as
characterized by the U.S. News and World Report Ophthalmology Rankings.
Results After multivariate analysis, only the h-index was found to be associated with an
increased likelihood of matching at a higher tier program when measuring tier based
on the metric of institutional research output (p < 0.0001). However, no research variable was found to be significant on multivariate
analysis when assessing the impact of research on matching into a certain tier program
based on reputation. The h-index was noted to increase by 1 for every 3.1 papers as
the first author, every 4.9 years since the first publication, every 6.4 ophthalmology-related
publications, and every publication in a journal with an impact factor of 5.2.
Conclusion A higher applicant h-index is associated with matching at an ophthalmology program
with greater research output; however, it is not associated with reputation of residency
program.
Keywords
ophthalmology residency - medical school - research - bibliometrics - h-index - residency
match
