LAUSR

The results from this year’s medical student match for orthopaedic surgery show a large number of unmatched applicants: 1470 applicants for the 875 available positions [1]. Given that about 40% of those who applied did not match this year, next year may have a record number of reapplications—but not all of those reapplications will be equal. Some of next year’s applicants will have numeric USMLE Step 1 scores [2], while others will not thanks to the decision by the National Board of Medical Examiners and the Federation of State Medical Boards to change these scores to pass/fail. Programs should prepare for how they might approach next year’s match given this key scoring change. Questions abound: How can programs distinguish between candidates with scores and those without? Given the limitations of the COVID-19 era, how can residency directors determine who might be a good match for their programs? What additional curveballs should we expect?