Otolaryngology Residency Application during the SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19) Pandemic

Abstract

<jats:p> The escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected health care at every level, including medical education. As some fourth-year medical students graduate early to join the front lines, we must now turn our attention to those trainees in their penultimate year. In this commentary, we address the unique dilemmas facing otolaryngology residency candidates for the 2020-2021 cycle, with a focus on those applicants with no institutional otolaryngology department. </jats:p>

The Effects of Pass/Fail USMLE Step 1 Scoring on the Otolaryngology Residency Application Process

“…Respondents from intermediate‐sized residency programs were also more likely to think USMLE Step 2 CK will have the greatest increase in weight compared to those from larger residency programs. The state of evaluating residency candidates is constantly evolving especially as this decision to make USMLE Step 1 pass/fail has coincided with COVID‐19, which will undoubtedly influence the immediate application cycle 11–13 . The presented data provide valuable information for medical students and otolaryngology residency programs, who will navigate this uncharted territory for several years until the true effects are discovered.…”

“…The state of evaluating residency candidates is constantly evolving especially as this decision to make USMLE Step 1 pass/fail has coincided with COVID-19, which will undoubtedly influence the immediate application cycle. [11][12][13] The presented data provide valuable information for medical students and otolaryngology residency programs, who will navigate this uncharted territory for several years until the true effects are discovered. The previous 3-digit scoring of USMLE Step 1 may have had unintentional negative consequences such as excessive reliance on one test for screening out applicants or discouraging otherwise competent future residents from pursuing certain careers due to not performing in the top percentiles.…”

Addressing the Impact of COVID‐19 on the Residency Application Process Through a Virtual Subinternship

“…Additionally, in a recent commentary, Quesada et al charged the OHNS community with developing a specialty-wide online advising platform and promoting holistic review of applicants. 7 The Association of American Medical Colleges 8 and others are also actively working to create and disseminate resources for application and interviewing tips. If widely implemented, these initiatives will also promote equity in the application process.…”

Creation of an Interactive Virtual Surgical Rotation for Undergraduate Medical Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Indeed, the top 3 criteria of candidate selection are personal knowledge of the applicant, letters of recommendation, and rotation within the department, all of which could be satisfied by this virtual rotation. 6 In the creation of this curriculum, we tried to mitigate the natural barriers of any virtual experience by emphasizing active participation of the students. Instead of including pre-recorded surgical videos, use of livestreamed wearable video recording devices combined with video-conferencing platforms allowed for a surgical view and ability to interact with the surgical team, comparable to an in-person experience.…”