The Virtual Interview and Physician Assistant/Associate Program Diversity

Creating a diversified health care workforce can improve equity, patient experiences, and outcomes. Achieving this goal begins with the recruitment of diverse applicants to health professional education programs. The purpose of this study was to compare diversity characteristics of applicants interviewed either virtually or in-person for physician assistant/associate education programs.

Descriptive and inferential analysis of admissions data from 3 New York-based programs that changed from an in-person interview format (interview cycles 2017, 2018, and 2019) to virtual format (interview cycles 2020, 2021, and 2022) were used in this study. Primary demographic data, focusing on race and ethnicity, were analyzed across several admission stages. Data were analyzed at each stage to explore differences in applicant success throughout the admission process (ie, verified applicants, interviewed, accepted, matriculated).

During the virtual interview period, the number of underrepresented in medicine (URiM), non-White, Black, Asian, and Hispanic applicants increased significantly while the number of White applicants decreased significantly. Significant increases were noted in the numbers of URiM, non-White, and Asian applicants interviewed as well as the number of non-White and Asians accepted. Among matriculated students, the total number of URiM, non-White, Asian, and Hispanic students showed an upward trend.

More research is needed to understand the potential relationships between the applicant pool diversity and interview format and interview stage.