How Prevalent Are Potentially Illegal Questions During Residency Interviews?

Abstract

Many residency applicants were asked potentially illegal questions. Developing a formal interview code of conduct targeting both applicants and programs may be necessary to address the potential flaws in the resident selection process.

How Prevalent Are Potentially Illegal Questions During Residency Interviews? A Follow-up Study of Applicants to All Specialties in the National Resident Matching Program

“…[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Whereas most studies have focused on a single specialty, our prior work explored these issues among applicants to five specialties (internal medicine, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, obstetrics-gynecology, and emergency medicine) in the 2006-2007 NRMP Match. Our current study expands on that work by including all a Each logistic regression model (9 in total) attempted to model the outcome of ranking a program lower (as opposed to higher or having no effect) as if 1 of the 9 potentially illegal questions were asked, and it adjusts for the other independent variables, including age, gender, race, marital status, parental status, and surgical vs. nonsurgical specialty.…”

“…20 Surgical specialties were defined as general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, obstetrics-gynecology, and otolaryngology. Non-response bias was analyzed using early (after the first two e-mails) versus late (after the third e-mail) respondent comparisons.…”

“…19 In 2007, our group found that 65% of the 7,028 applicants to five different specialties reported being asked such questions. 20 To expand on our previous research, we aimed to describe the prevalence and effects of being asked potentially illegal questions during the residency interview process by surveying all residency applicants to all specialties.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] However, violations of these laws have occurred during residency interviews. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] In 1990, the Association of American Medical Colleges found that 35% of residency applicants were asked about family planning/marital status. 14 Moreover, 38% of women were asked about their pregnancy intentions.…”

Use of the Interview in Resident Candidate Selection: A Review of the Literature

“…33 Additionally, the interview can be a venue for unethical questioning regarding applicants' marital status, reproductive plans, and health, especially by faculty without adequate training. [34][35][36] Given the high cost of the resident interview and its importance in resident selection, this review attempts to identify data-driven strategies to optimize resident interview processes. The objectives were (1) to identify interview characteristics utilized by residency programs to evaluate candidates for selection; (2) to establish a relationship between the interview score and applicant characteristics and rank-order position in blinded and unblinded interview formats; and (3) to examine associations between applicant interviews and trainee/physician performance.…”