Geographic mobility in the emergency medicine residency match and the influence of gender

Linda Regan; Michael A Gisondi; Jeremy Branzetti; Meghan Mitchell; Michelle Romeo; Caroline Kayko; Laura R Hopson

doi:10.1002/aet2.10706

Geographic mobility in the emergency medicine residency match and the influence of gender

AEM Educ Train. 2021 Aug 1;5(4):e10706. doi: 10.1002/aet2.10706. eCollection 2021 Aug.

Authors

Linda Regan¹, Michael A Gisondi², Jeremy Branzetti³, Meghan Mitchell⁴, Michelle Romeo⁵, Caroline Kayko⁶, Laura R Hopson⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore Maryland USA.
² Department of Emergency Medicine Precision Education and Assessment Research Lab Stanford School of Medicine Stanford California USA.
³ Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine NYU Grossman School of Medicine New York New York USA.
⁴ Department of Emergency Medicine University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan USA.
⁵ Department of Emergency Medicine Temple University Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.
⁶ University of Michigan Library Ann Arbor Michigan USA.
⁷ Department of Emergency Medicine University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor Michigan USA.

Abstract

Objectives: Women are underrepresented in emergency medicine (EM) leadership. Some evidence suggests that geographic mobility improves career advancement. We compared movement between medical school and residency by gender. Our hypothesis was that women move a shorter distance than men.

Methods: We collected National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) lists of ranked applicants from eight EM residency programs from the 2020 Main Residency Match. We added the gender expressed in interviews and left the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) number as the unique identifier. Applicant data for matched osteopathic and allopathic seniors in the continental United States was included. We obtained street addresses for medical schools from an AAMC database and residency program addresses from the ACGME website. We performed geospatial analysis using ArcGIS Pro and compared results by gender. NRMP approved the data use and our institutional review board granted exempt status.

Results: A total of 881 of 944 unique applicants met inclusion criteria and included 48.5% (830/1,713) of matched allopaths and 37% of all matched seniors; 48% (420) were female. There was no significant difference between genders for distance moved (p = 0.31). Women moved a mean (±SD) 619 (±698) miles (median = 341 miles, range = 0-2,679 miles); and men, a mean (±SD) 641 (±717) miles (median = 315 miles, range = 0-2,671 miles). Further analysis of applicants traveling less than 50 miles (49 women, 51 men) and by census division showed no significant frequency differences.

Conclusion: Women and men travel similar distances for EM residency with the majority staying within geographic proximity to their medical school. This suggests that professional mobility at this stage is not a constraint. Our study findings are limited because we do not know which personal and professional factors inform relocation decisions. Gender is not associated with a difference in distance moved by students for residency. This finding may have implications for resident selection and career development.