Virtual Interviews for the Independent Plastic Surgery Match: A Modern Convenience or a Modern Misrepresentation?

Abstract

Objective The virtual interview for residency and fellowship applicants has previously been utilized preliminarily in their respective processes. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many programs to switch to a virtual interview process on short notice. In the independent plastic surgery process, which was underway when the pandemic started, applicants had a heterogeneous experience of in-person and virtual interviews. The purpose of this study was to assess if applicants prefer a virtual interview experience to an in-person interview as well as determine if virtual interview applicants had a different opinion of a program compared to the in-person interview applicants. Design/Setting/Participants The 2019 to 2020 applicants who interviewed at the Indiana University Independent Plastic Surgery program were administered an anonymous online survey about their interview experience at our program. Results Our survey response was 60% (18/30). The in-person interview group ( n = 10) rated their overall interview experience higher than the virtual interview group ( n = 8) 8.8 vs 7.5 (p = 0.0314). The in-person interview group felt they became more acquainted with the program, the faculty, and the residents more than the virtual group (4.7 vs 3.25, p < 0.0001) (4.3 vs 3.25, p = 0.0194) (4.3 vs 2.75, p < 0.0001). The majority of applicants favored in-person interviews (16/18, 88.9%). The in-person interview group spent significantly more money on their interview at our program compared to the virtual interview group ($587 vs $0, p < 0.0001). Conclusion Our study demonstrated that the virtual interview process was an efficient process for applicants from both a financial and time perspective. However, the virtual interview process left applicants less satisfied with their interview experience. The applicants felt they did not become as acquainted with the program as their in-person counterparts. The virtual interview process may play a large role in residency and fellowship applications in the future, and programs should spend time on how to improve the process.

From Beginning to End: A Single Radiology Residency Program's Experience with Web-Based Resident Recruitment during COVID-19 and a Review of the Literature

“…An overview of all these prior studies combined highlights that surgical training programs, in particular, disproportionately favor in-person interviews (23,25,29,30,32,34). When looking carefully at their results, though, the majority of the subjective data show that web-based virtual interviews are effective for the majority of applicants in allowing them to learn about the educational environment and the culture (Table 2), see comments).…”

Virtual Versus In-Person Surgical Fellowship Interviews and Ranking Variability: the COVID-19 Experience

“…Despite the lack of differences in variabilities in virtual interviews compared to-in person interviews, prior studies showed that most candidates consider the in-person interview experience to be better than virtual interview experience, and in-person interview candidates felt better acquainted with the faculty and current trainees compared to virtual interview candidates. [13] Furthermore, in-person interview candidates were also more likely to agree that the interview experience was su cient to allow them to make a ranking decision, [14] while many virtual interview candidates felt that they did not get an adequate understanding of the program. [15] In summary, in our clinical glaucoma fellowship program, a change from one-to-one interview resulted in less candidate ranking variabilities between interviewers paired in the rooms, which may decrease the candidates' opportunities to represent themselves satisfactorily.…”

Unforeseen Collateral Damage of COVID-19 With the Virtualization of Fellowship Interviews

“…Programs should be congratulated on their initiative, flexibility, and innovation in quickly adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic by transitioning to an entirely virtual interview process. 1 , 2 However, some of the more subtle benefits of the in-person event may be overlooked and losing them may have long-lasting consequences to the trainee. These include opportunities for social connectedness, dedicated time for career advancement, and peer networking.…”

“…The applicants’ social interactions were multiplied as subspecialty programs are small and have a limited applicant pool. With virtual interviews, not only do applicants lose social interactions with each other and interviewing faculty and fellows, 1 but the lack of dedicated time away to participate in interviews may have made virtual interviews more difficult to schedule around despite less time commitment.…”