Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42890249›Full record

ArticleJournal of graduate medical education2026

Increased Prevalence of Large Language Model-Associated Language in US Residency Application Personal Statements.

Darrow Traylor, Andrea Carlson, Ravi Chacko, Elise Lovell, Bethany J Slater, Brandyn Mason, Kent Nelson, Kevin Loughry, Ryan McKillip

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of graduate medical education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Darrow Trayloris a Resident Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4670-7144
Andrea Carlsonis Program Director and Director of Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA, and University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2228-0669
Ravi Chackois Co-Vice Chair of Research, Department of Emergency Medicine, Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA, and University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3559-4497
Elise Lovellis Vice Chair of Education, Department of Emergency Medicine, Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA, and University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4098-1256
Bethany J Slateris Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3397-6208
Brandyn Masonis Program Director, Department of Family Medicine, Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA.
Kent Nelsonis Pediatric Residency Director, Department of Pediatrics, Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA.
Kevin Loughryis Associate Program Director, Department of Internal Medicine, Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA.
Ryan McKillipis Co-Vice Chair of Research, Department of Emergency Medicine, Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, Illinois, USA, and University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8665-4106

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Residency leaders increasingly rely on personal statements to assess applicant communication skills and individuality. Personal statements written by large language models (LLMs) have been rated more readable but more generic than applicant-written ones, yet the prevalence of LLM use and its effect on applicant writing remain unknown. Objective: To measure the prevalence of LLM-associated language in personal statements from the 2017 through 2024 application cycles and assess associated changes in applicant writing. Methods: This retrospective descriptive study analyzed personal statements submitted to the internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, and general surgery residencies of a US academic medical center for the 2017 through 2024 application cycles. Using one-sample Results: Among 62 132 statements (55 199 from 2017-2023, 6933 from 2024), LLM-associated word prevalence increased from 27.9% (SD, 1.05%) pre-2024 to 45.6% in 2024 ( Conclusions: LLM-associated language increased 17.7% in 2024, corresponding to approximately 1 in 6 additional personal statements, while writing characteristics reflective of communication skills and individuality changed modestly.

Indexed as

Internship and ResidencyLarge Language ModelsWritingCommunicationHumansRetrospective StudiesUnited States

Identifiers

PMID42890249
PMCPMC13671133

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.