Interview Day Environment May Influence Applicant Selection of Emergency Medicine Residency Programs

The more things change the more they stay the same: Factors influencing emergency medicine residency selection in the virtual era

Background

Interviews for emergency medicine (EM) residency positions largely transitioned to a virtual-only format in 2020-2021. The impact of virtual interview factors on applicants' rank of programs is unknown.

Objective

We sought to assess the impact of modifiable factors in virtual interviews on applicants' rank of EM residency programs.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional mixed-methods survey of students applying to at least one of seven study authors' EM residency programs in the United States during the 2020-2021 application cycle. The survey was developed using an interactive Delphi process and piloted prior to implementation. The survey was administered from May to June 2021 with up to four email reminders. Quantitative analysis included descriptive statistics. Three authors performed a thematic qualitative analysis of free-text responses.

Results

A total of 664 of 2281 (29.1%) students completed the survey, including 335 (50.5%) male, 316 (47.7%) female, and six (0.9%) nonbinary. A total of 143 (21.6%) respondents identified as underrepresented in medicine and 84 (12.7%) identified as LGBTQIA+. Respondents participated in a median of 14 interviews and ranked a median of 14 programs. Most respondents (335, 50.6%) preferred a choice of in-person or virtual, while 183 (27.6%) preferred all in-person, and 144 (21.8%) preferred all virtual. The program website and interview social were the most important factors influencing respondent ranking. Qualitative analysis revealed several positive aspects of virtual interviews including logistical ease and comfort. Negative aspects include technical issues, perceived interview hoarding, and barriers to applicant assessment and performance. Demonstrated effort by the program, effective information delivery, communication of resident culture, and a well-implemented interview day positively influenced respondents' rank of programs.

Conclusions

This study identified characteristics of the virtual interview format that impact applicants' rank of programs. These results can inform future recruitment practices.

Core surgical training: The influence of time and date on interview outcome

INTRODUCTION

Core Surgical Training has become increasingly competitive over the last 5 years with the competition ratio reaching 4.16 in 2021 compared to 2.31 in 2015. This is thought to be due to two key factors: a large yearly increase in the number of applicants and an unchanging number of jobs. Steps are taken by HEE to ensure the process is as standardised and fair as possible. Interview date and time selection remains the only aspect of the process that candidates currently control. We aim to explore whether time and date of an interview has any impact on interview scores within CST.

METHODS

This study is a national, retrospective cohort study. A freedom of information act request was submitted to HEE to acquire anonymised interview scores and date/time of interview for all CST interviews conducted for the 2022-2023 cohort.

RESULTS

Across the two-week period whereby interviews were held 1264 interviews were undertaken. Candidates with morning interviews had a mean score of 111 (±16) and candidates in the afternoon had a mean score of 108 (±18.5) (p = 0.023). Candidates interviewing in week 1 had a mean score of 107 (±18) and candidates interviewing in week 2 had a mean score of 112 (±16.4) (p < 0.001).

DISCUSSION

A small difference in score has a significant impact for candidates with their geographical location, specialty choice or event enrolment in the core training programme potentially impacted. It is therefore imperative that these findings receive further evaluation going forward to ensure the process is fair and robust for all participants.

Critical Appraisal of Emergency Medicine Educational Research: The Best Publications of 2016

OBJECTIVES

The objectives were to critically appraise the emergency medicine (EM) medical education literature published in 2016 and review the highest-quality quantitative and qualitative studies.

METHODS

A search of the English language literature in 2016 querying MEDLINE, Scopus, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and PsychInfo identified 510 papers related to medical education in EM. Two reviewers independently screened all of the publications using previously established exclusion criteria. The 25 top-scoring quantitative studies based on methodology and all six qualitative studies were scored by all reviewers using selected scoring criteria that have been adapted from previous installments. The top-scoring articles were highlighted and trends in medical education research were described.

RESULTS

Seventy-five manuscripts met inclusion criteria and were scored. Eleven quantitative and one qualitative papers were the highest scoring and are summarized in this article.

CONCLUSION

This annual critical appraisal series highlights the best EM education research articles published in 2016.