Effectiveness of Virtual Residency Interviews: Interviewer Perspectives

Virtual residency interviews were widely utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the effectiveness, advantages, barriers, and acceptability of virtual interviews, casting uncertainty about how interviews should be conducted after the pandemic. We conducted a survey of interviewers to inform future decisions.

We developed and implemented an online postinterview survey of interviewers representing seven residency programs and two clinical psychology programs at one midsized academic medical center. We analyzed results using descriptive statistics.

Of 312 interviewers, 136 completed the survey (44% response rate). A majority rated virtual interviews as very or extremely effective in creating a comfortable setting (79%), answering interviewee questions (86%), establishing a sense of connection (59%), evaluating interviewee strengths (64%), and communicating program culture (51%). About half felt virtual interviews were not effective at all or only slightly effective for evaluating interviewee strengths via informal interactions (51%). A similar portion agreed or strongly agreed that virtual tours (44%) and social environment (50%) information were adequate. The most frequent advantages were time efficiency (81%), reduced carbon footprint (61%) and cost savings (56%). Frequent disadvantages included technological issues (21%) and caregiving duties (18%). Most interviewers (91%) thought some form of virtual interviews should be incorporated postpandemic.

Interviewers found virtual interviews to be effective in most aspects, and identified more advantages than barriers. The vast majority preferred incorporation of virtual interviews in the future. Virtual tours and social activities were areas for improvement.