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A longitudinal analysis of the career decisions made by the recipients of the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery Medical Student and Resident Scholarships
Bryant McLafferty
1, Daniela Medina
2, Claudie Sheahan
2, Benjamin Pearce
3, Megan Tracci
4, Adam Beck
3, Will Jordan
5, Malachi Sheahan, III
2 1Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA;
2Louisiana State Univeristy, New Orleans, LA;
3University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL;
4University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA;
5Medical College of Georgia at Augusta, Augusta, GA
Introduction In response to the increasing demand for vascular surgeons in the US workforce, several initiatives have successfully expanded the annual number of available vascular training positions. The new integrated vascular paradigm has also created the need to recruit medical students to vascular surgery. One proposed method to produce an increased demand for the supply of training positions is to offer scholarships for residents and students to attend scholarly meetings where they will be exposed to the field and develop mentorship opportunities. While nearly every major vascular society now offers such a program, no measure of their efficacy has been published. This study aims to analyze the career decisions made by participants in the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery (SAVS) scholarship program.
Methods This was a retrospective review of data collected by the SAVS from 2017 to 2024. To be eligible for the program, recipients were medical students or general surgery residents in their first three years and thus not committed to any specialty. Demographic information was collected in the scholarship applications and the participants’ ultimate choice of residency or fellowship was determined after attending the annual meeting.
Results A total of 96 participants (57 female, 40 male) were included in the study, consisting of 52 medical students (54.2%) and 44 residents (45.8%). As of July 2024, 18 of the medical students (34.6%) matched into a vascular surgery residency, 7 (13.5%) matched into general surgery, 4 (7.7%) matched into another residency, and 23 (44.2%) were still not yet eligible for the Match. Among the general surgery residents, 12 (27.3%) matched into a vascular fellowship, 12 (27.3%) matched into another fellowship or entered practice, and 20 (45.4%) are not yet eligible for the Match. Overall, 30 scholarship participants (31.2%) have matched into vascular surgery to date, with 40 (41.2%) remaining eligible to choose vascular as a career. Of the 53 participants who matched into a training program, 30 (56.6%) matched vascular. The breakdown of those who have made a definitive training decision is shown in Figure 1. The majority of the recipients who matched into vascular are female (total 20/30 66.7%, integrated 15/17 83.3%, fellowship 5/12 41.7%). In an analysis of the regional effects of the scholarship, the majority of recipients who pursued vascular training did so in the southern region (17/30 57%).
Conclusion The scholarship opportunities offered by the SAVS have been effective in recruiting qualified residents and students to vascular training programs. Further targeting of the grants may be effective in reducing the vascular workforce disparities in gender, race, ethnicity, and geographic practice location.
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