Evaluating residency applicants: stable values in a changing market.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A 1994 study found significant differences in the way family practice and OB-GYN residency directors ranked the importance of components of the residency application package. Family practice residency directors favored qualitative measures (dean's letter, personal statement), and OB-GYN residency directors favored quantitative measures (transcripts, National Board of Medical Examiners score). The authors of the 1994 study hypothesized that the differences could be attributed to specialty competitiveness and philosophy. Our study reexamined family practice rankings of these same application components to determine if the programs, with increased competition for residency positions, had changed their values. METHODS: We surveyed all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved residency directors, using the core questions from the 1994 study, plus 2 additional questions. RESULTS: The component rankings in 1997 were virtually identical to the rankings in 1994. The new variables, computed to identify competitiveness, failed to elicit any meaningful or consistent differences. CONCLUSIONS: Program directors have remained relatively stable in favoring the qualitative aspects of the application package, ranking the dean's letter and personal statement consistently in the top 3 positions. This stability is found across time and independent of success in the National Resident Matching Program and number of US graduate applicants. Residency directors have not increased their reliance on quantitative measures.