• Michael J Auriemma and Curtis L Whitehair.
• MedStar Georgetown University Hospital/MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, DC.
• PM R. 2018 Mar 1; 10 (3): 286-292.

BackgroundSince the inception of the National Resident Matching Program, multiple studies have investigated the factors applicants consider important to ranking prospective residency programs. However, only 2 previous studies focused on prospective physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) trainees, and the most recent of these studies was published in 1993. It is unknown whether these previous studies are reflective of current prospective PM&R residents.ObjectiveTo assess various factors that contribute to prospective PM&R residents' decision making in choosing a residency program and compare these findings with previous studies.DesignAn anonymous, voluntary questionnaire.SettingA single PM&R residency program.ParticipantsAll applicants to a single PM&R residency program.MethodsAll applicants to our PM&R residency program were invited to participate in a 44-item, 5-point Likert-based questionnaire. Applicants were asked to rate the importance of various factors as they related to constructing their residency rank list.Main Outcome MeasurementsMeans and standard deviations were calculated for items included in the survey.ResultsA response rate of 26% was obtained, with the responses of 98 applicants (20%) ultimately analyzed. The highest rated factors included "perceived happiness of current residents," "opportunities for hands-on procedure training," "perceived camaraderie among current residents," "perceived camaraderie among faculty and current residents," "perceived quality of current residents," and "perceived work/life balance among current residents." Although male and female respondents demonstrated similar ranking preferences, an apparent difference was detected between how genders rated the importance of "whether the program projects a favorable environment for women" and "whether the program projects a favorable environment for minorities." As compared with previous PM&R applicants, current prospective trainees seem to place greater importance on skill acquisition over didactic teaching.ConclusionProspective PM&R residents highly value subjective perceptions of prospective PM&R training programs and the ability to obtain hands-on procedural experience.Level Of EvidenceNot applicable.Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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