Suburban versus urban: does it matter where the residency interview begins?

Geographic location is an important factor in students' ranking of residency programs. Our program's inner city location has a negative impact on our recruitment efforts. In an attempt to assess the impact of geography, we started half of the residency interview days at our suburban community medical center and then measured the effect on the applicant's perception of the program. During the 1998-1999 residency interview season we alternated the site at which the day began. Students were randomly assigned based on interview date requests to starting the day at the urban hospital or at the community hospital. At the conclusion of the day the students completed a questionnaire regarding various components of the interview day and how their perception of the program was influenced by the experience. Of 206 students asked to complete the questionnaire, 188 (91%) completed the survey. The degree to which the students' perception of the program was affected was remarkably similar regardless of where the interview day began; however, significant differences were found between the Chairman's Talk, the Teaching Session, and talking with current residents when compared by univariate analysis. We concluded that students' perception of the program at the conclusion of the interview day was similar regardless of whether the interview day began at an urban or suburban medical center.