Reimagining Residency Selection: Part 2—A Practical Guide to Interviewing in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Abstract

ven in the best of times, interview season can be daunting for both program leadership and prospective applicants. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, national and specialty level organizations called for virtual-only interview processes for the 2021 graduate medical education (GME) selection period. This marks a landmark change in the way GME selection will occur and may irrevocably change the process going forward. In this article, we explore the recent literature from medical education, social sciences, and business fields to inform residency interview practices, with special attention on digital innovations that may replace or augment traditional interview day processes.

Systems-Level Reforms to the US Resident Selection Process: A Scoping Review

“…131,132 The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the residency application process in numerous ways, [133][134][135][136] accelerating calls for disruptive innovation and affording opportunities for novel reform. 1,[137][138][139][140][141] Application caps were the most frequently proposed reform (n ¼ 28 articles), and many specialties have recommended limits for the 2020-2021 cycle. 138,142 Some have suggested deriving application caps from the AAMC Apply Smart tool, which correlates application data with specialty entrance rates to identify the point of diminishing returns for application submissions stratified by applicant type (MD/ DO/IMG) and Step 1 score tertile.…”

Virtual Social Events: An Integral Component of Recruitment in the New Era of Graduate Medical Education

“…For example, trainees and applicants can simulate working with one another through virtual scavenger hunts or group icebreakers. 9 These tools provide goal-oriented methods of becoming acquainted that are otherwise not achievable with videoconferencing.…”

“…One of the benefits of social events is that current trainees get to know the applicants and vice versa. 8,9 To gain valuable insight about the applicants themselves, we recommend programs reserve these sessions for social interactions only, rather than for didactic information regarding the program. Hearing applicants' personal stories allows the program to show interest in their individuality and gives voice to applicants of all backgrounds.…”

“…With little time to prepare, most residency programs replaced their in-person social events with virtual events hosted on video conferencing platforms. 1,3,4,[7][8][9][10][11] While virtual social events were unable to fully recreate the in-person experience, it appears virtual interviewing will largely continue in 2021-2022, as 10 medical specialties and 14 individual programs have already made commitments to do so at the time of this manuscript submission. 12 Thus, optimizing virtual social events will be vital to improving the interview process going forward.…”

Reimagining Residency Selection: Part 3—A Practical Guide to Ranking Applicants in the Post-COVID-19 Era

“…1,2 Previously, we reviewed the topics of recruitment 3 and interviews. 4 In this guide, we explore findings from fields outside of medicine, such as the social sciences and business, to inform residency selection with a focus on file review and rank list determination.…”