Emergency Medicine Residency Applicants' Perceptions about Being Contacted after Interview Day

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Graduate Medical Education
• Residency Selection

Background:

• Residency program selection involves a complex application and interview process.
• Communication between residency programs and applicants after interviews is a common but debated practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate emergency medicine (EM) residency applicants' experiences and preferences regarding post-interview communication from programs.
• To understand how this communication influences applicant rank list decisions.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey was administered to emergency medicine residency applicants during the 2006-2007 interview cycle.
• The anonymous, voluntary survey utilized web-based software and included multiple-choice and free-text questions.

Main Results:

• 89% of surveyed applicants reported post-interview contact from residency programs.
• Contact methods included email (91%), mail (67%), and phone (55%).
• 51% of applicants reported contact influenced their rank list, with a majority feeling positive, though some felt uncomfortable or "put on the spot"; 39% found phone contact inappropriate.

Conclusions:

• The majority of emergency medicine residency applicants experience post-interview contact from programs.
• While generally viewed as appropriate, specific methods like phone calls are perceived negatively by a significant portion of applicants.
• These findings offer insights for residency programs on managing applicant communication effectively during the match process.