The impact of preference signaling on interview and match rate for surgical match in resident education: a meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The residency matching process has become increasingly competitive across surgical subspecialties, with "interview hoarding" exacerbating resource inefficiencies and systemic inefficiencies in candidate selection. Traditional reliance on non-standardized metrics-particularly USMLE Step 1 scores, institutional prestige, and geographic connections-has further compounded equity concerns in the matching ecosystem. Preference signaling mechanisms have emerged as a standardized solution to enhance both matching efficiency and fairness, though current evidence remains limited by single-specialty studies and insufficient examination of long-term match outcomes.

Methods

Studies on the preference signaling mechanism in surgical subspecialties published after 2020 were retri

SUBMITTER: Xu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12729009 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature