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

Chang, Ta Chen; Hodapp, Elizabeth; Parrish, Richard K.; Grajewski, Alana L.; Gedde, Steven J.; Lee, Ray-Kuang; Wellik, Sarah R.; Junk, Anna K.; Porta, Luís; Swaminathan, Swarup S.; Bitrian, Elena; Rothman, Adam L.; Vanner, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-415697/v1

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Although recent literature has evaluated the virtual fellowship interview process, 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 there have been few studies that have specifically focused on the virtual interview process for orthopaedic surgery sports medicine fellowship programs. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of both PDs and fellowship applicants regarding the virtual interview process for orthopaedic surgery sports medicine fellowship programs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Interviews for Sports Medicine Fellowship Positions Save Time and Money but Don’t Replace In-Person Meetings

Clark

Kraeutler

McCarty

et al. 2022

Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation

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Purpose: To understand the perceptions of program directors (PDs) and fellowship applicants regarding the virtual interview process for orthopaedic surgery sports medicine fellowship programs. Methods: An anonymous online survey was distributed through the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) to applicants and PDs of orthopaedic surgery sports medicine fellowship programs following the 2020-2021 fellowship application cycle. Results: A total of 40 responses were received from PDs for a response rate of 47% (40 of 85) and 72 responses were received from applicants for a response rate of 27% (72 of 271). All of the surveyed PDs (40/40, 100%) agreed/strongly agreed that the applicant's interview carries significant weight in determining where an applicant is ranked on the match list. Fifty-eight percent (23 of 40) of PDs agreed/strongly agreed that virtual interviews negatively affected their personal connection with the fellowship interviewee. The presence of virtual interviews allowed 80% (57 of 71) of applicants to go on more interviews. Seventy-three percent (51 of 70) of applicants were able to save greater than $5,000 on travel expenses and 63% (25 of 40) of fellowship programs were able to save greater than $2,500 by conducting virtual interviews. Conclusions: Virtual interviews allowed fellowship programs and applicants to complete more interviews, but both PDs and applicants stated that interviewing in-person was important for applicants to meet faculty and tour the institution where they may be spending a year. In contrast, significant financial savings resulted due to the transition to virtual interviews. Finally, both PDs and applicants were in favor of having the option of interviewing virtually, suggesting that virtual interviews may continue to play a role in future application cycles. Clinical Relevance: This study may be valuable to fellowship programs that will continue to implement virtual interviews into future application cycles.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Interviews for Sports Medicine Fellowship Positions Save Time and Money but Don’t Replace In-Person Meetings

Clark

Kraeutler

McCarty

et al. 2022

Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation

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“…To test these hypotheses, we performed a comparison of ranking variabilities between different interviewer-pairs for the 2020 interviews, and compare the candidate ranking categories between 2018, 2019, and 2020 interviews. A preprint has previously been published [ 8 ].…”

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confidence: 99%

The Effect of Changing Fellowship Interview Format on Candidate Ranking Variabilities: The COVID-19 Experience

Chang

Hodapp

Parrish

et al. 2022

Journal of Ophthalmology

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Purpose. This study investigated the effect of interview format changes (in-person to virtual, one-to-one to multiple-to-one) necessitated by the COVID-19 travel restrictions on preliminary fellowship candidate ranking variabilities. Design. Cross-sectional observational study. Method. In 2018 and 2019, the glaucoma fellowship interviews were conducted in-person in a one-to-one format, whereas in 2020, interviews were virtual and in a multiple (interviewers)-to-one (candidate) format. We compared ranking ranges of interviewers within the same virtual room (WSR) and not within the same virtual room (NWSR) to assess the effect of WSR versus NWSR on ranking variabilities. We also compared ranking categories (“accept,” “alternate,” and “pass”) agreements between 2018, 2019, and 2020 to assess the effect of virtual versus in-person interviews on ranking variabilities. Results. NWSR and WSR mean rankings differed by 1.33 (95% confidence interval difference 0.61 to 2.04, p = 0.0003), with WSR interviewers having less variability than NWSR pairs. The variability between 2018/2019 (in-person interviews) and 2020 (virtual interviews) showed no differences between in-person and virtual interviews (weighted Kappa statistic 0.086 for 2018, 0.158 for 2019, and 0.101 for 2020; p < 0.05 for all years). The overall least attractive candidate has the lowest variability; the most attractive candidate has the second lowest variability. Conclusion. Grouping interviewers WSR during the interview decreased ranking variabilities compared to NWSR, while a change from in-person to virtual interview format did not increase the ranking variabilities. This suggests that the decreased nonverbal interactions in virtual interviews do not decrease interviewers’ perceptions as applied to preliminary rankings.

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

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Virtual Interviews for Sports Medicine Fellowship Positions Save Time and Money but Don’t Replace In-Person Meetings

Virtual Interviews for Sports Medicine Fellowship Positions Save Time and Money but Don’t Replace In-Person Meetings

The Effect of Changing Fellowship Interview Format on Candidate Ranking Variabilities: The COVID-19 Experience

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