To assess the effect of interview capping on ophthalmology match results data from 3 consecutive match cycles (2020 to 2021, 2021 to 2022, and 2022 to 2023) obtained from the San Francisco (SF) Match system.

Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of national match data.

San Francisco Match system during the 2020 to 2021, 2021 to 2022, and 2022 to 2023 application cycles.

Of 2594 applicants to ophthalmology residency programs, 2266 were included after excluding those who applied to ≤ 20 programs in 2020 to 2021, ≤ 18 in 2021 to 2022, ≤ 15 in 2022 to 2023, and those who withdrew from the match. De-identified data on demographics, application volume, interview invitations, and match outcomes were collected from the SF Match system. Applicants were categorized based on the number of interview invites (≤ 15 vs. > 15).

Of the 2266 that were included in the analysis 1519 (67.03%) matched. Among all applicants, those who received more than 15 interview invites (n = 391) had a match rate of 98.5%. In comparison, match rates were 93% among those with 11 to 15 invites, 61% with 6 to 10, and 62% with 0 to 5 (p = 0.043). Factors associated with receiving > 15 interviews included identifying as Black (AOR: 9.39, 95% CI: 4.61-19.22), Hispanic (AOR: 2.69, 95% CI: 1.55-4.62), having Alpha Omega Alpha honors (AOR: 3.34, 95% CI: 2.40-4.66), and higher USMLE Step 2 CK scores (AOR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.10-1.14 per unit increase). Male applicants (AOR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.36-0.67), and reapplicants (AOR: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.07-0.64) had lower odds of receiving > 15 interviews.

Interview caps may promote a more equitable distribution of interview invitations by preventing accumulation among a subset of highly competitive applicants, commonly referred to as “interview hoarding,” without significantly affecting top candidates’ ability to match. Further research is needed to explore reasons why 2% of candidates with greater than 15 interviews did not match warranting investigation into qualitative factors.