Factors that affect selection of a psychiatry residency program : faculty, resident, and student perspectives

The influence of the application-interview process on recruitment into psychiatry has recently attracted attention. Surveys of student perspectives indicate that certain program characteristics are of vital importance in selecting a residency and that students evaluate residency programs as much as residency programs evaluate them. This paper describes a survey of faculty members', residents', and students' perspectives on attributes important to program recruitment. The three groups of respondents agreed on two-thirds and disagreed on one-third of the items on the survey, which was distributed throughout psychiatry residency training programs in Ohio. Analyses of disagreements imply that specific changes in faculty behaviors and program procedures might benefit the recruitment process for students and for programs.