Virtual or in-person? a census of residency interview formats for match 2025

Since the Match was established in 1952, residency interviews in the United States were conducted in person. This abruptly changed in May 2020, when the Coalition for Physician Accountability mandated that programs conduct interviews virtually for the 2020-2021 application season. While the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recommended virtual interviews in 2024, it is not known whether residency programs conducted virtual, hybrid, or in-person interviews in the application cycle that followed.

A list of United States (US) residency programs from 23 specialties was compiled using the AAMC Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) Directory website. Interview format (virtual, hybrid, or in-person) for each program in the 2024-2025 application cycle was determined from correspondence with program coordinators, program websites, and specialty-specific databases. Pearson's Chi-squared test was performed to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in interview formats across specialties.

A total of 4863 residency programs across 23 specialties were found on the ERAS Directory. Researchers successfully determined interview formats for 4014 (82.5%) of these programs. The majority (2989, 74.5%) conducted virtual interviews, while others opted for in-person (700, 17.4%) and hybrid (325, 8.1%) interviews. In-person interviews were most favored by otolaryngology (86.3%), plastic surgery (85.2%), neurosurgery (84.5%), orthopaedic surgery (70.3%), and thoracic surgery (56.0%). Most programs from other specialties held virtual interviews. These inter-specialty differences were statistically significant (p < 2.2 x 10^-16).

While most US residency programs conducted virtual interviews for Match 2025, many surgical subspecialties returned to in-person interviews. This census may inform stakeholders as they consider the future of residency interviews in years to come.