What Can We Learn From Resident Selection Interviews?

A Critical Disconnect: Residency Selection Factors Lack Correlation With Intern Performance

“…48 The interview itself, while not directly included in our study, has also been found to be poorly predictive of training outcomes. 7,12 Residency interviews can also be costly and engender greater bias in selection. 1,12,[49][50][51] As far back as 1979, we can identify an argument by Keck et al that above a certain threshold, traditional cognitive academic criteria have likely reached saturation in predicting those capable of completing medical training and that noncognitive factors such as personality and artistic and social achievement need to be considered.…”

“…7,12 Residency interviews can also be costly and engender greater bias in selection. 1,12,[49][50][51] As far back as 1979, we can identify an argument by Keck et al that above a certain threshold, traditional cognitive academic criteria have likely reached saturation in predicting those capable of completing medical training and that noncognitive factors such as personality and artistic and social achievement need to be considered. 52 We have not yet identified the ''secret sauce'' for graduate medical education training success; however, we can continue to strive for residency application metrics that more accurately predict training success and/or more granular measures of residency performance.…”

“…Unfortunately, the predictive value for success in residency is generally very low based on these metrics, with the majority of positive correlations between standardized testing outcomes. 7,[9][10][11][12][13][14] The limitations of the interview process have led to the development of alternative interview approaches and the search for other ''noncognitive'' applicant assessments. [15][16][17][18][19] One of these assessments is the Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE) used in emergency medicine (EM).…”

Using structured interviews to reduce bias in emergency medicine residency recruitment: Worth a second look

“…17 However, this correlation was lost after the first year of residency. 28 One major shortfall of structured interviews such as the MMI is that some applicants perceive the process to be intimidating and more difficult than traditional interviews, 14,15 which can result in candidates ranking a program lower. 16 Indeed, the friendliness of a program was the most important factor when applicants formed a rank list.…”

Medical Residency Interviews: Time for a Change?

“… 2 Across distinct disciplines, on-site interviews have been shown to handicap candidates who are financially disadvantaged, have scheduling conflicts, or are culturally dissimilar to interviewers. 4 However, despite these shortfalls, a viable alternative to on-site interviews has remained elusive.…”