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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Academic Ophthalmology 2022; 14(02): e216-e223
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1756199
Research Article

Trends in Cornea Fellowship Applications and Applicant Characteristics: A San Francisco Match Analysis

Brittany C. Tsou‡   #
1   Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Ugochi T. Aguwa‡   #
1   Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Lubaina T. Arsiwala
1   Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Eleanor Burton
1   Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Kapil Mishra
2   Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
,
Sidra Zafar
1   Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
,
Fasika Woreta 
1   Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
› Author Affiliations Support of Funding This study was supported by grant P30EY001765 (Wilmer Biostatistics Core Grant) from the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.
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Abstract

Purpose We investigate trends in cornea fellowship positions filled over time and applicant characteristics associated with matching into cornea fellowship.

Methods Characteristics of cornea fellowship applicants were assessed using deidentified 2010 to 2017 San Francisco (SF) Match data. Publicly available SF Match cornea fellowship data including the number of participating programs, number of positions offered, number of positions filled, percentage of positions filled, and number of vacancies from 2014 to 2019 were also analyzed as data from 2010 to 2013 were unavailable.

Results From 2014 to 2019, the number of cornea fellowship programs increased by 11.3% (mean 2.3% per year, p = 0.006) and the number of positions offered increased by 7.7% (mean 1.4% per year, p = 0.065). Of 1,390 applicants from 2010 to 2017, 589 (42.4%) matched into cornea. After controlling for potential covariates, graduation from a U.S residency program (odds ratio [OR]: 6.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.05–9.35, p < 0.001) and a greater number of interviews completed (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.29–1.42, p < 0.001) were associated with increased odds of cornea fellowship match. A greater number of applied programs (OR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95–0.98, p < 0.001) was associated with decreased odds of matching into cornea fellowship. The proportion of applicants matching into cornea fellowship increased until 30 applications.

Conclusions The number of cornea fellowship programs and positions increased from 2014 to 2019. Graduation from a U.S residency program and a greater number of interviews completed were associated with an increased likelihood of cornea fellowship match. Unlike applying to any ophthalmology subspecialty fellowship, applying to greater than 30 cornea fellowship programs was associated with decreased odds of matching.

Keywords

cornea - fellowship - San Francisco Match - applicant characteristics

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This submission has not been published anywhere previously and is not simultaneously being considered for any other publication.


# Authors contributed equally and are co-first authors.




Publication History

Received: 23 December 2021

Accepted: 16 June 2022

Article published online:
23 September 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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