Perspectives on virtual interviews—A follow-up study of the Comprehensive Endocrine Surgery Fellowship interview process

Structuring the Future Residency Recruitment Seasons: Applicants’ Perspective on the Virtual Experience during the 2020–2021 Interview Season

“…Given the small sample size and association with a single institution and specialty, its generalizability is limited. However, our results concurred with broader studies in different specialties [2,5]. Because the survey was sent before the rank list closure date, a lower response rate may be due to fear of how participation might affect their ranking status and may have resulted in biased answers regardless of the confidentiality stated.…”

“…Virtual recruitment models created more equitable geographic access among applicants. Geary et al noted that interview day attendance rates increased with fewer cancellations or no-shows [5]. Our respondents reported being able to apply to more programs because of the virtual interface (N = 37; 64%).…”

“…One possible explanation is the potential reduction in economic burden for applicants. In prior years, the cost of interviewing at multiple programs -$1,000-$11,580 US dollars per applicant -was a limiting factor to some [3,5]. The elimination of these expenses potentially leveled the playing field for those limited by economic constraints, geographic location, or clinical duties.…”

Virtual Recruitment: Experiences and Perspectives of Internal Medicine Program Directors

“…Future internal medicine recruitment will be shaped by the experiences of the 2020-2021 recruitment season. Like some other specialties, 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 many internal medicine program directors plan to incorporate virtual interviews into future recruitment cycles. This shift suggests that a hybrid approach may become the norm even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.…”

Applicants' perception of fit to residency programmes in the video‐interview era: A large multidisciplinary survey

“…During the virtual recruitment cycle, residency programmes complemented their virtual interviews with additional programming: pre‐interview virtual happy hours (unstructured time for mingling through videoconferencing), asynchronous video‐based materials (such as virtual tours and interviews of programme stakeholders) and increased social media presences 8,16,24 . It remains unclear whether these efforts are sufficient to translate the experience of in‐person interviews, which was previously considered to be the most important aspect of the recruitment cycle by applicants 15,17,25,26 . Due to the sudden and unprecedented need to transition to a virtual interview format, there are limited direct comparisons between in‐person and virtual interviews, but a paediatric surgery programme interviewed applicants both virtually and in‐person in 2018 and surveyed interviewees on their experiences 27 .…”