Using virtual reality as a replacement for hospital tours during residency interviews

Abstract

Background: Residency programs invest a significant amount of time and resources on the recruitment process, and maintaining efficiency and cost-effectiveness are very important. Virtual Reality (VR) has become an adaptive substitute for 'real life' experiences and its use during the interview season could help save time and resources. Objective: With the intention to maximize the interview day and provide a cost-effective alternative to facility tours, a Med-Peds residency training program introduced a VR tour of their children's hospital during recruitment. Design: The Med-Peds program replaced an in-person facility tour of the children's hospital with a VR tour. Applicants were asked to complete an anonymous, voluntary survey on their VR experience at the end of the interview season, and rank features of the interview day in order of importance. Results: There were 33 respondents out of 54 interviewees. Approximately two thirds (63-66%) agreed that VR was non-inferior and superior to in-person facility tours, and that the use of VR had a favorable impact on their perception of the program. However, almost 50% of the applicants had some difficulty using VR technology. Conclusion: Use of VR facility tours as an alternative to in-person tours of affiliate training facilities during a residency interview day is a viable and innovative option that can save time and money and favorably impact the applicant's impression of the program. More research is necessary to assess whether VR tours can replace in-person tours at the main teaching site, however, while social distancing measures are in place, VR tours may become necessary for programs moving forward.

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

“…Programs can harness technology to offer BOX Ideas for Use of Digital Tools for Residency Recruitment virtual tours of facilities and surrounding areas. 34,35 A low-cost video of a walking tour, filmed on a mobile device by a current trainee, can show the location in a way that feels authentic and personal. Note that care must be taken to maintain compliance with HIPAA regulations when filming patient care areas.…”

Reimagining Residency Selection: Part 2—A Practical Guide to Interviewing in the Post-COVID-19 Era

“…Digital or virtual reality tours can overcome barriers of time and space to highlight geographically distant clinical sites, facilities, and aspects of the city and region, such as neighborhoods, restaurants, parks, and landmarks, although these techniques are not without limitations. 21 The supplemental material of this article outlines strategies for implementing virtual interview processes and provides an overview of key considerations for virtual interviews.…”

Virtual Interviewing for Residency/Fellowship during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Common complaints included limited informal and social interaction [10,11], decreased non-verbal communication [16], and inability to adequately present themselves [6]. Applicants also perceived an inability to gain a feel for the hospital and city [10,11,16], but inexpensive smart-phone virtual reality may offer a solution to this problem [17]. Lastly, applicants at times felt uncomfortable ranking programs that they interviewed for virtually, and noted a negative effect on how they ranked the program [9].…”