An equivalence study of interview platform: Does videoconference technology impact medical school acceptance rates of different groups?

Abstract

Web-based interviewing may be an effective element of a medical school's larger approach to promotion of holistic review, as recommended by the Association of American Medical Colleges, by facilitating the feasibility of including rural and community physicians in the interview process. Only 10% of medical schools offer videoconference interviews to applicants and little is known about the impact of this interview modality on the admissions process. This study investigated the impact of overall acceptance rates using videoconference interviews and face-to-face interviews in the medical school selection process using an equivalence trial design. The University of New Mexico School of Medicine integrated a videoconferencing interview option for community and rural physician interviewers in a pseudo-random fashion during the 2014-2016 admissions cycles. Logistic regression was conducted to examine whether videoconference interviews impacted acceptance rates or the characteristics of accepted students. Demographic, admissions and diversity factors were analyzed that included applicant age, MCAT score, cumulative GPA, gender, underrepresented in medicine, socioeconomic status and geographic residency. Data from 752 interviews were analyzed. Adjusted rates of acceptance for face-to-face (37.0%; 95% CI 28.2, 46.7%) and videoconference (36.1%; 95% CI 17.8, 59.5%) interviews were within an a priori ± 5% margin of equivalence. Both interview conditions yielded highly diverse groups of admitted students. Having a higher medical college admission test score, grade point average, and self-identifying as disadvantaged increased odds of admission in both interview modalities. Integration of the videoconference interview did not impact the overall acceptance of a highly diverse and qualified group of applicants, and allowed rural and community physicians to participate in the medical school interview process as well as allowed campus faculty and medical student committee members to interview remotely.

Zooming In Versus Flying Out: Virtual Residency Interviews in the Era of COVID‐19

“…15 However, a recent study of medical school admissions demonstrated equivalent acceptance rates between the two interviewing methods. 16 The research world also provides insights into differences in interviewer-interviewee dynamics with the virtual format. Krouwel et al found similar interview content but longer duration of in-person interactions.…”

Preparing for the interviewing process during Coronavirus disease-19 pandemic: Virtual interviewing experiences of applicants and interviewers, a systematic review

“…There were 2 studies with poor rating [10,18], 11 studies with fair rating [2-4, 9, 11-17] and 2 studies with good rating [5,7] obtained from 2 reviewers who performed the rating individually. See…”

“…Study characteristics are represented in Fig 3. The oldest study was identified from the year 2000 [18] and the most recent from the year 2020 [2]. Of the total 15 included studies, most studies (n = 14) were descriptive (1 cohort [5] and 13 survey designs [2-4, 7, 9-14, 16-18]). One study was a randomized controlled crossover study [15].…”

“…With the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, several institutions are compelled to transition from face-to-face interviewing (FTFI) to virtual interviewing (VI) for the upcoming interviewing season. Although VI maybe explored in nonmedical disciplines, there are limited reports in the existing medical literature describing the utilization of VI in interviewing [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Traditionally, FTFI remains to be a preference for candidate selection process.…”

Considerations for Program Directors in the 2020–2021 Remote Resident Recruitment

“…One-on-one interviews can easily be converted to a remote format. Video conference interviews have not been found to result in a change in factors associated with acceptance compared with in-person interviews [16,23], and one program even found that applicants were perceived to be more relaxed during remote interviews [16]. While traditional formats can be continued, some programs may use this as an opportune time to experiment with different types of interviews.…”