AAIM Principles and Recommendations for the 2021-2022 Internal Medicine Residency Interview Cycle in Response to the Continued COVID-19 Pandemic

Emerging from the Pandemic: AAIM Recommendations for Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship Interview Standards

“…AAIM recognizes the need to provide updated guidance for residency and fellowship interview standards in response to recommendations from CoPA as well as changes in recruitment processes that have taken place over the past 2 years. These recommendations ( Table ) consider the complex and evolving nature of this current landscape while incorporating key principles of our mission as medical educators in internal medicine: 1 , 2 , 3 AAIM developed a set of principles to guide the development of recommendations. The alliance shares the same goals as the overall medical education community: 3 standardizing the interviewing process to reduce unwarranted confusion, stress, and inequity; and safeguarding the health of applicants, educators, and staff while ensuring productive internal medicine residency and fellowship matches amid the complexities of the application process in the current landscape.…”

“…Applicants and programs developed new approaches for the application and recruitment process; interviews were conducted almost exclusively via a virtual or online format. 1 , 2 , 3 Early data from all-virtual GME interview experiences suggest that virtual interviews are widely acceptable to applicants as well as to program directors and allow both groups to adequately learn about each other. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 New recommendations are needed to guide what successful elements of virtual season interview cycles should continue as travel restrictions end.…”

AAIM Recommendations to Promote Equity and Inclusion in the Internal Medicine Residency Interview Process

“…The COVID-19 pandemic upended residency recruitment by transforming interviews into an all-virtual process, and it heightened awareness of inequities impacting specific applicant populations. 1 , 2 Overall, program directors were satisfied with the process and outcomes of the all-virtual interview process and planned to keep virtual elements in future years. 3 , 4 Both programs and applicants found advantages in an all-virtual recruitment process, including cost savings, improved efficiency, flexibility of interviews, faculty recruitment, opportunities to interview more candidates, program website innovations, decreased interruptions in education from travel, and the ability to attend more interviews.…”