By analyzing the relative importance of specific residency applicant characteristics and focusing on those deemed most useful in determining which candidates are invited for interviews, a large teaching institution streamlined preliminary application screening while maintaining an equitable candidate selection process.
Collaborative programming coordinated by the OSU chapter of SSHP was offered to pharmacy students to improve preparation for the residency application and interview process. The program was well received by participants.
One sentence in particular in Dr. Dotson's letter caught our attention. He says that focusing on the seven factors we identified as being predictive of an interview invitation could make the review process more efficient. We are concerned that he and possibly other readers intend to use those particular factors in their own process for reviewing residency applications. As we mentioned in our article, we advocate our process for determining significant factors, but we suspect that the predictive factors might vary from institution to institution on the basis of local values, needs, and preferences. Therefore, we recommend that, if possible, each institution conduct its own analysis to establish the list of factors that most closely reflect its local culture.
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