The following is the summary of “A survey of pediatric urology fellowship applicants: past priorities to guide future possibilities” published in the December 2022 issue of Pediatric urology by Ernst, et al.

There are typically fewer people applying for pediatric urology fellowships than there are openings (chart), providing those who do apply a lot of sway on where they ultimately match. Conventionally, residents have been responsible for covering most of the expenditures associated with conducting interviews at specific hospitals. This research aimed to identify and characterize the difficulties that applicants face when deciding where to apply, interview, and ultimately be matched for a fellowship. Each individual who was successfully matched for a pediatric urology fellowship between 2013 and 2019 was emailed a link to an online survey consisting of 24 questions. The survey asked respondents to identify themselves, discuss their application, interview, and ranking experiences, and describe any challenges they faced while completing the application process.

In all, 126 former and present fellows were reached out to, with 73 (60%) filling out the entire survey (51% male and 49% female). Respondents typically applied to 10 programs, were interviewed for 9, and selected 8 as their top choices. The number of surgical cases, the variety of surgical cases, and recommendations from mentors were the most influential in deciding where to apply and interview. Clinical independence, program reputation, and program structure were the most weighted criteria. The importance of hospitals and hospital facilities was assessed as “important” by only 12% of those polled. 82% of applicants (60 people) had to overcome some sort of personal or professional obstacle. The “expense of interviewing” was cited by 59% of respondents (out of 43 total). During the interview process, 61% of candidates took at least one day off for personal reasons, and 37% took more than 5.

To their knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the factors influencing candidates’ decisions on where they apply, interview, and ultimately rank for a fellowship in pediatric urology. Due to the high demand and restricted number of available fellowships, you must have a firm grasp on this data. There is no existing validated survey in this field, thus we are restricted to drawing broad, overarching generalizations about applicants based on a survey with a relatively low response rate of 60%. Based on the results of this research, it appears that the majority of prospective pediatric urology fellows choose their fellowship programs primarily on the basis of their perceived surgical volume and the programs’ reputations. Rankings are also based on the same criteria. The application procedure presented challenges for many individuals, both professionally and personally, due to factors such as expense and time away from work and family. Previous interviewees did not place a premium on hospital amenities, prompting the shift to a digital version in recent years. In general, this procedure may benefit from such criticism.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1477513122002807