Potential Implications of COVID-19 for the 2020-2021 Residency Application Cycle

Abstract

In the 2020-2021 academic year, more than 40 000 medical students and physicians will apply for residency positions in the United States. Yet due to the effects of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the experience will be distinctly different for applicants and programs than in previous years. How will the residency application process be affected by COVID-19? While the pandemic will stress the residency selection process, it will also provide the opportunity for change and systemic improvements.Even before COVID-19, calls to reform the residency selection process were becoming more frequent. 1,2 Many issues are related to the increasing number of programs to which applicants apply. In 2019-2020, applicants from US medical schools applied to an average of 65 programs, and international medical graduates (IMGs) applied to an average of 137 programs. 3 This number of applications likely does not improve match rates and imposes a substantial cost on applicants and a potentially unmanageable load on program directors.

The Case for Capping Residency Interviews

“…Capping interviews would likely not violate anti-trust laws given that applicants would still have the choice of where they would like to interview, however these issues would need to be further investigated. New measures such as preference signaling mechanisms [30][31][32] need to be urgently considered in order for programs to be able to prioritize whom to offer interviews. The use of "tokens" would enable applicants to be able to convey interest to a set number of programs; this has been well-described in graduate PhD economics education literature.…”

COVID-19 Pandemic and Child Neurology Training: A Bumpy Road Ahead

“…The dissertations of residents should either focus on COVID-19 patients or retrospective studies and surveys. 5 The current situation looks gloomy and stakeholders need to keenly address this glaring issue soon.…”

Virtual Residency Interviews: Optimization for Applicants

“…Social distancing guidelines as a result of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)) pandemic have created substantial curricular changes in undergraduate medical education in the United States [1]. Despite curricular changes, the effects of the pandemic on the 2020-21 residency application cycle are unknown [2,3]. However, on May 11, 2020, the Coalition for Physician Accountability recommended that all programs transition to online interviews and visits for the current application cycle [4].…”