2025 Southern GEA/GSA/OSR Conference

National Resident Matching Program reports, and several published studies addressing residency match metrics illustrate a significant rise in research conducted by medical students over the past 15 years. Although these data partially represent all medical student research, they serve as a sample highlighting a trend clearly showing stellar growth in the number of medical students publishing PubMed-indexed research (1). Interestingly, the proportions of the type of articles, fields of study, and country of origin have remained static. However, research experiences may increasingly be discussed during the residency interview. Some studies report that approximately one-quarter of interviewers ask about research regardless of specialty, research topic, and publication/presentation status of the project (2). Moreover, the recent change to pass vs. fail for the USMLE Step 1 exam has impacted how program directors and medical students view research's importance vis-à-vis the Match, especially in competitive specialties (3,4).