Evaluating the Importance of Sub-Internships on the 2022 Integrated Plastic Surgery Match During Continued COVID-19 Regulations

Objective: Following the 2021 integrated plastic surgery match, we found a significant increase in home match rates and decrease in match rate for students without a home plastic surgery program with the elimination of visiting sub-internships and the initiation of virtual interviewing. With the return of visiting sub-internships in the 2022 match cycle, we hypothesize that these rates will approach values more consistent with historical controls. Design: Program match data was obtained from posts to residency program Instagram pages and posts associated with the hashtag #PRSMatch2022. Data on visiting sub-internship matches was obtained from a publicly available Google Sheet with applicant contributors. The Chi square test was used to assess for differences. Setting: Medical schools and plastic surgery programs were categorized into west, midwest, south, and northeast regions. Participants: Matched applicants to integrated plastic surgery residency programs. Results: In total, 192 of 194 (99%) of applicants matched to integrated plastic surgery residency positions were identified. The match rate for applicants without an affiliated plastic surgery program (31.3%) increased from 2021 (p = 0.03) and returned to a level consistent with historical controls (p = 0.38). Similarly, the home program match rate (15.1%) and match rate for applicants from Top 40 medical schools (34.2%) decreased from 2021, returning to pre-pandemic levels (p = 0.63, p = 0.12). Finally, regional match preferences remained generally consistent with historical controls, apart from a higher proportion of northeast applicants matching to programs in the northeast (72.5%, p = 0.04), and a lower proportion of west applicants matching to programs in the west (26.3%, p = 0.002). Conclusions: The 2022 integrated plastic surgery match cycle saw a reversal of many of the changes to match rates seen in the 2021 cycle. These changes may be due to the reintroduction of visiting sub-internships following updates in COVID-19 policies.