Below is a summary of “Geographic and Demographic Trends Associated with the Initiation of Virtual Interviews in General Surgery: An Evaluation of Seven Programs,” published in the July 2024 issue. Surgery According to Moreci et al.
Virtual interviews have become the predominant format for general surgery residency applications, but their overall impact remains to be explored. Single-institution studies have shown a surge in applications and virtual interviews, but have yet to identify changes in the geographic origins of interviewed and matched candidates. This study aimed to identify national trends regarding the geographic characteristics of applicants, interviewed individuals, and matched candidates across virtual and in-person application cycles.
The retrospective analysis covered seven general surgery residency programs across application years 2016–2019 (in-person) and 2020–2021 (virtual). Data included applicants’ year of birth, sex, ethnicity, state of medical school, and location at time of application, and analyses employed generalized mixed-effects and linear models.
The study involved 52,742 applicants, 4,550 interviewers, and 329 matched candidates. The virtual application cycle did not result in an increase in the annual averages of applicants (P = .25), interviewers (P = .36), or matched candidates (P = .84). Notably, the virtual cycle resulted in significantly more interviews with candidates from out-of-state medical schools (P < .01) and out-of-state locations listed (P < .01) compared with the in-person cycle. However, no significant differences were found in the geographic distribution of matched candidates between the virtual and in-person cycles.
Although the virtual application cycle increased the geographic diversity of interviewees, this trend did not extend to matched candidates. The lack of a notable change in the geographic diversity of matched applicants during the virtual cycle warrants further investigation. Future efforts should focus on understanding the factors underlying these results in order to optimize the inclusiveness and effectiveness of virtual interviews for residency admissions.
sauce: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0039606024003866
