A Feasibility Assessment of Behavioral-based Interviewing to Improve Candidate Selection for a Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program

Abstract

Traditional interviews for residency and fellowship training programs are an important component in the selection process, but can be of variable value due to a nonstandardized approach. We redesigned the candidate interview process for our large pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship program in the United States using a behavioral-based interview (BBI) structure. The primary goal of this approach was to standardize the assessment of candidates within noncognitive domains with the goal of selecting those with the best fit for our institution's fellowship program. Eight faculty members attended two BBI workshops. The first workshop identified our program's "best fit" criteria using the framework of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's six core competencies and additional behaviors that fit within our programs. BBI questions were then selected from a national database and refined based on the attributes deemed most important by our faculty. In the second workshop, faculty practiced the BBI format in mock interviews with third-year fellows. The interview process was further refined based on feedback from the interviewees, and then applied with fellowship candidates for the 2014 recruitment season. The 1-year pilot of behavioral-based interviewing allowed us to achieve consensus on the traits sought for our incoming fellows and to standardize the interview process for our program using the framework of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competencies. Although the effects of this change on the clinical performance of our fellows have not yet been assessed, this description of our development and implementation processes may be helpful for programs seeking to redesign their applicant interviews.

Priorities in the Neurotology Fellowship Match: A Survey Study of Program Directors and Fellows

“…Similar priorities have been observed in selection of candidates applying for non-otolaryngology fellowships directors and for a variety of residencies outside of otolaryngology. [13][14][15][16] Indeed, for residency and fellowship program directors alike, training programs appear to desire candidates who demonstrate a track record of success and are perceived to have a low likelihood of failure. 15 With respect to applicants' research credentials, neurotology program directors rated the quality of a candidate's work (quality of applicant's prior research) above the volume (number of applicant's publications) or content (research in otology/neurotology).…”

RETRACTED: Escaping the Traditional Interview Approach: A Pilot Study of an Alternative Interview Process

“…Medical residencies and fortune 500 companies also are identifying that the candidate pool is becoming harder to distinguish between one another in the traditional interview process and are designing feasible interview alternatives. [4][5][6] Alternative interviewing techniques could potentially excite interview candidates and leave lasting impacts on candidates when reviewing small market programs. Recently, a surge in the number of recreational physical adventure games known as "escape rooms" has emerged throughout the United States.…”

Virtual Interviews at Graduate Medical Education Training Programs: Determining Evidence-Based Best Practices

“…22 In a pulmonary and critical care training program, the use of a structured, behavioral interviewing approach allowed the program to gain greater consensus about the qualities they sought in applicants as well as greater confidence in their ability to identify these qualities during the interview. 23 In addition to improving interview accuracy, using standardized questions reduces the risk that interviewers will ask prohibited questions (e.g., regarding gender, race, sexual orientation, marital status, family planning, etc. ), which unfortunately are still prevalent in many GME training program interviews.…”