ASO Author Reflections: Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowships: What Are Programs Looking For?

Excerpt

Complex General Surgical Oncology (CGSO) is among the most competitive fellowships available to general surgery residents with 63% of applicants going unmatched.1 Despite burgeoning interest and a growing applicant pool, surgical educators and applicants alike have had limited objective data to gauge competitiveness or set milestones in preparation for the application process. To provide insight, we previously explored the applicant pool using the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS).1 In our analysis, we were able to define the characteristics of the applicant population and identify factors associated with matriculation. Specifically, matriculants averaged ten publications and tended to publish in higher impact journals. We were, however, careful to caution the readership against overinterpretation of the data given the inherent limitations of the study. In particular, we were unable to examine the specific impact of letters of recommendation, personal statements, and the interview process, in addition to several other objective metrics, including ABSITE scores and first author publications. …