Branding and Recruitment: A Primer for Residency Program Leadership

Reimagining Residency Selection: Part 1—A Practical Guide to Recruitment in the Post-COVID-19 Era

“…10 A 2015 study evaluating applicants' priorities in selecting residency programs identified these top factors: the program's ability to prepare residents for future training or position, resident morale, faculty availability and involvement in teaching, depth and breadth of faculty, and variety of patients and clinical resources. 11 Traditionally, program recruitment strategies have involved creating program branding, 12 fostering a national reputation, 13 participating in residency and fellowship fairs at large specialty conferences, developing a program website, 14 and having a social media presence. 12,15 Additionally, many programs have recruited internal candidates through participation in mentorship, teaching activities, and medical school specialty interest groups.…”

“…11 Traditionally, program recruitment strategies have involved creating program branding, 12 fostering a national reputation, 13 participating in residency and fellowship fairs at large specialty conferences, developing a program website, 14 and having a social media presence. 12,15 Additionally, many programs have recruited internal candidates through participation in mentorship, teaching activities, and medical school specialty interest groups. [16][17][18][19][20] Clerkships have traditionally served as one of the most powerful recruitment tools for both internal and visiting students, offering more prolonged, repeated contact between applicant and program.…”

“…Within the realm of marketing, social media provides an increasingly important source of information for applicants to residency programs. 12 Information DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-20-00907.1…”

The F Word: How “Fit” Threatens the Validity of Resident Recruitment

“…Establish a clear brand identity for your program to guide discussions regarding culture. 4 Once a clear program identity is established, use it to clarify the domains valued by the program and create explicit recruitment goals. For example, if a program identifies as one that fosters selfstarters, an explicit recruitment goal could be to preferentially rank applicants who have demonstrated the ability to create and develop new initiatives.…”

“…5 Encourage all members of your recruitment team to take implicit association tests (freely available online via Project Implicit 6 ) and reflect on their results. 4. Follow up on gestalt impressions.…”