A Novel Ticket System for Capping Residency Interview Numbers: Reimagining Interviews in the COVID-19 Era

Abstract

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to dramatic changes in the 2020 residency application cycle, including halting away rotations and delaying the application timeline. These stressors are laid on top of a resident selection process already under duress with exploding application and interview numbers—the latter likely to be exacerbated with the widespread shift to virtual interviewing. Leveraging their trainee perspective, the authors propose enforcing a cap on the number of interviews that applicants may attend through a novel interview ticket system (ITS). Specialties electing to participate in the ITS would select an evidence-based, specialty-specific interview cap. Applicants would then receive unique electronic tickets—equal in number to the cap—that would be given to participating programs at the time of an interview, when the tickets would be marked as used. The system would be self-enforcing and would ensure each interview represents genuine interest between applicant and program, while potentially increasing the number of interviews—and thus match rate—for less competitive applicants. Limitations of the ITS and alternative approaches for interview capping, including an honor code system, are also discussed. Finally, in the context of capped interview numbers, the authors emphasize the need for transparent preinterview data from programs to inform applicants and their advisors on which interviews to attend, learning from prior experiences and studies on virtual interviewing, adherence to best practices for interviewing, and careful consideration of how virtual interviews may shift inequities in the resident selection process.

Virtual Residency Interview Experience: The Child Neurology Residency Program Perspective

“…Standards within fields could also be agreed upon by program director groups, as has been done with obstetrics where there is an agreed upon final application deadline, a standard 72 hours in which applicants have time to reply to interview offers and a deadline for programs to notify applicants of their status (interview/no interview/waitlist). A ticketing system through which applicants have a limit on the number of interviews they can accept, with an increased allowance for couples matching, has been proposed but not implemented [ 13 ]. Such an interview cap could help candidates be more selective in their application process, improve the chances of less competitive applicants matching and reduce some of the burden on programs.…”

From Beginning to End: A Single Radiology Residency Program's Experience with Web-Based Resident Recruitment during COVID-19 and a Review of the Literature

“…"Application fever" may have increased this cycle due to easing of access, but we anticipate that this effect may be reduced with future widespread implementation of virtual open house sessions. Of consideration is the possible future incorporation of a limit enforcement upon students when accepting interview offers, as proposed by Burk-Rafel and Standiford (16), in which case prospective residents will truly need to do thorough research of prospective programs in advance of booking interview appointments. Regardless of whether radiology residency programs implement an interview ticketing system, programs' hosting of virtual open houses will potentially diminish the practice of ERAS overapplication, with advantages for both programs and applicants in the long run.…”

The virtual interview format for fellowship recruitment in obstetrics and gynecology: a nationwide survey of program directors

“…This reduces the number of opportunities for moderate/marginal candidates.’ Additionally, we found that 46.2% of Residency PDs we surveyed still felt that virtual interviews led to loss of surgical cases and clinical learning opportunities, and 50% believed that there should be a maximum limit on the number of virtual interviews an applicant can accept. Capping the number of virtual interviews has been suggested for residency interviews, and is a subject of controversy [ 17 ]. Assessing whether virtual interviewing creates potential inequities in the match process, as well as further investigation into the consequences of capping the number of virtual interviews may be necessary in the future.…”