Kamboj Amrit K, Raffals Laura E, Martin John A, Chandrasekhara Vinay
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Tech Innov Gastrointest Endosc. 2021;23(2):159-168. doi: 10.1016/j.tige.2021.02.001. Epub 2021 Feb 7.
Advanced endoscopy (AE) fellowship interviews during the 2020 application cycle were held virtually due to COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to characterize the application experience with virtual interviews.
Applicants and programs participating in the 2020 AE fellowship match were prospectively sent separate 17-question surveys. Responses were collected using Research Electronic Data Capture.
In total, 63/104 applicants (60.6%) matched and 64/71 (90.1%) positions filled within the match. The survey was completed by 37/87 (42.5%) applicants and 71 interviewers from 43/65 (66.2%) participating programs. Most applicants (64.7%) preferred a 1:1 applicant:faculty ratio and a 20-minute interview (73.5%), which was used by programs 50.7% and 47.8%, respectively. The majority of applicants (82.4%) and interviewers (76.8%) reported overall satisfaction with virtual interviews. The biggest limitations for applicants were getting a "feel" for the program and endoscopy unit. In the future, 41.2% of applicants preferred only virtual interviews compared to 7.2% of interviewers (< 0.01). Conversely, 14.7% of applicants preferred only in-person interviews compared to 39.1% of interviewers (= 0.01). Half of the interviewers (50.7%) would negatively view applicants who chose a virtual option over an in-person interview if both were offered.
The majority of AE fellowship applicants and programs reported overall satisfaction with virtual interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the potential benefits, virtual interviews may have an increasing role in future residency and fellowship applications. Programs that conduct virtual interviews need to be aware of its limitations and have measures to improve the applicant experience and mitigate potential biases of interviewers.
由于新冠疫情，2020年申请周期内的高级内镜（AE）专科培训面试以虚拟方式进行。本研究旨在描述虚拟面试的申请体验。
前瞻性地向参加2020年AE专科培训匹配的申请人和项目发送了分别包含17个问题的调查问卷。使用研究电子数据采集系统收集回复。
共有63/104名申请人（60.6%）成功匹配，匹配中的71个职位有64/71（90.1%）被填补。37/87（42.5%）名申请人以及来自43/65（66.2%）个参与项目的71名面试官完成了调查。大多数申请人（64.7%）倾向于申请人与教员1:1的比例以及20分钟的面试（73.5%），项目采用这两种方式的比例分别为50.7%和47.8%。大多数申请人（82.4%）和面试官（76.8%）对虚拟面试总体满意。申请人面临的最大限制是无法“感受”项目和内镜科室。未来，41.2%的申请人仅倾向于虚拟面试，而倾向于此的面试官比例为7.2%（<0.01）。相反，14.7%的申请人仅倾向于面对面面试，而倾向于此的面试官比例为39.1%（=0.01）。如果同时提供面对面和虚拟面试两种选择，一半的面试官（50.7%）会对选择虚拟面试的申请人持负面看法。
大多数AE专科培训申请人和项目对新冠疫情期间的虚拟面试总体满意。鉴于潜在益处，虚拟面试在未来住院医师和专科培训申请中可能会发挥越来越大的作用。进行虚拟面试的项目需要意识到其局限性，并采取措施改善申请人体验，减轻面试官的潜在偏见。
