Showcasing Your Cardiothoracic Training Program in the Virtual Era

Applicants' perception of fit to residency programmes in the video‐interview era: A large multidisciplinary survey

“…Although it may be impossible to accurately recreate the immersive experience of in‐person interviewing, providing applicants with unstructured, informal, virtual spaces to interact with residents might allow for more organic conversations and may provide invaluable insight into programme culture and the rapport between residents 16,38 . Social media could also be employed to highlight relational aspects of ‘fit’ if the content is resident generated and focuses specifically on the day‐to‐day experience of residents; consider hosting resident ‘take‐overs’ of residency programme social media accounts, ‘Ask Me Anything (AMA)’ sessions (which offer real‐time bidirectional communication with applicants), or ‘live‐tweeting’ of residency events such as research presentations or award ceremonies, for example 24,39 . In concordance with previous research regarding residency recruitment, our study identified that programmes need to continue to be intentional in their efforts to recruit minoritised trainees, whose definition of ‘fit’ places particular emphasis on identity‐related factors and perceptions of diversity 28 .…”

“…These on‐site experiences allowed applicants to physically navigate spaces, interact with an uncurated sample of staff, and glean information about a programme's culture from the exchanges they observe and participate in, as well as other visual cues, such as the portraiture on the walls 11,12 . During the virtual recruitment cycle, residency programmes complemented their virtual interviews with additional programming: pre‐interview virtual happy hours (unstructured time for mingling through videoconferencing), asynchronous video‐based materials (such as virtual tours and interviews of programme stakeholders) and increased social media presences 8,16,24 . It remains unclear whether these efforts are sufficient to translate the experience of in‐person interviews, which was previously considered to be the most important aspect of the recruitment cycle by applicants 15,17,25,26 .…”

“…11,12 During the virtual recruitment cycle, residency programmes complemented their virtual interviews with additional programming: pre-interview virtual happy hours (unstructured time for mingling through videoconferencing), asynchronous video-based materials (such as virtual tours and interviews of programme stakeholders) and increased social media presences. 8,16,24 It remains unclear whether these efforts are sufficient to translate the experience of in-person interviews, which was previously considered to be the most important aspect of the recruitment cycle by applicants. 15,17,25,26 Due to the sudden and unprecedented need to transition to a virtual interview format, there are limited direct comparisons between in-person and virtual interviews, but a paediatric surgery programme interviewed applicants both virtually and inperson in 2018 and surveyed interviewees on their experiences.…”

A Match Made in Cyberspace: Applicant Perspectives on a Virtual Residency Application Process

“…6 Additionally, residency programs offered a variety of virtual programming prior to, during, and after the interview day. [6][7][8][9] Pre-interview programming was largely advertised on social media, email lists, and program websites. While program websites were available to all prospective applicants to provide information about a given residency, this was not always the case for social media and email lists.…”

“…The switch to virtual interviewing sparked a surge in social media presence. [6][7][8][9] For applicants, social media was used to directly connect with current residents and faculty, learn more about programs, and rank programs. 10 Residency programs' use of social media also increased for nearly all specialties.…”