Changes in Residency Applicant Cancellation Patterns with Virtual Interviews: A Single-site Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Residency Programs
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a shift to virtual interviews for residency programs.
• This transition raised questions about applicant cancellation timeliness and patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze changes in applicant cancellation rates and timeliness following the adoption of virtual interviews for emergency medicine residency selection.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study analyzing interview data from an emergency medicine residency program.
• Comparison of interview scheduling patterns between one in-person and two virtual interview seasons (2019-2022).
• Evaluation of overall cancellation rates and proportion of cancellations within 7 or 14 days of the interview date.

Main Results:

• Overall cancellation rates were significantly lower for virtual interviews (10.5-12.4%) compared to in-person interviews (31.3%).
• The proportion of cancellations occurring within 14 days significantly increased with virtual interviews (55.5-80%) compared to in-person (20%).
• Cancellations within 7 days also increased during virtual interview seasons (13.6-26.7%) versus in-person (0%).

Conclusions:

• Transitioning to virtual interviews correlated with a decrease in overall interview cancellations.
• A higher proportion of cancellations occurred closer to the interview date during virtual seasons.
• Further research is needed to understand the impact of these cancellation patterns on emergency medicine recruitment.