Shen Abra H, Shiah Eric, Sarac Benjamin A, Maselli Amy M, Nassar Amer H, Lee Bernard T, Janis Jeffrey E, Lin Samuel J
From the Division of Plastic Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School; and Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Ohio State University.
Plast Reconstr Surg. 2022 Oct 1;150(4):930-939. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000009521. Epub 2022 Aug 8.
The 2020 to 2021 residency application cycle marked the first year of fully virtual integrated plastic surgery interviews. The virtual format was a double-edged sword for applicants with several advantages, such as reduced costs and time lost from travel, and disadvantages as the novel format introduced new stressors on top of an already demanding process. Concerns included unfair interview invitation distribution, interview "hoarding," and assessing "fit" virtually. In this study, the authors aimed to understand applicants' experiences of the 2020 to 2021 virtual plastic surgery interview cycle.
A survey was sent to 330 applicants in the 2020 to 2021 integrated plastic surgery application cycle. The survey included questions about participant demographics, preinterview preparation, virtual interview experiences, and postinterview process. Statistical comparisons were performed on responses using IBM SPSS Statistics version 25.0 (IBM, Armonk, N.Y.).
Eighty-nine participants responded to the survey, representing a 27 percent response rate. Applicants received an average of 13.3 interview invitations (range, 0 to 45) and attended an average of 11.4 interviews (range, 0 to 30). Almost half (48.2 percent) did not feel interview invitations were distributed equitably, and more than half (68.2 percent) reported that there should be a limit on the number of interview invitations an applicant can accept. The majority of respondents (88.1 percent) reported spending $500 or less on virtual interviews. Half (50.6 percent) participated in virtual subinternships, of which 30.4 percent became significantly less interested in a program afterward.
The inaugural virtual interview cycle had several advantages and disadvantages. Lessons learned from this year could be utilized toward building a more equitable, fair, and effective potential virtual cycle in years to come.
2020至2021年住院医师申请季标志着整形手术综合面试完全采用虚拟形式的第一年。虚拟形式对申请者来说是一把双刃剑，有几个优点，比如成本降低和旅行时间减少，但也有缺点，因为这种新形式在本就要求苛刻的过程之上又引入了新的压力源。担忧包括面试邀请分配不公、面试“囤积”以及通过虚拟方式评估“匹配度”。在本研究中，作者旨在了解申请者在2020至2021年虚拟整形手术面试季中的经历。
向2020至2021年整形手术综合申请季的330名申请者发送了一份调查问卷。该调查包括有关参与者人口统计学、面试前准备、虚拟面试经历和面试后流程的问题。使用IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0版（IBM，纽约州阿蒙克）对回复进行统计比较。
89名参与者回复了调查，回复率为27%。申请者平均收到13.3份面试邀请（范围为0至45份），平均参加11.4场面试（范围为0至30场）。近一半（48.2%）的人认为面试邀请分配不公平，超过一半（68.2%）的人表示应该限制申请者可接受的面试邀请数量。大多数受访者（88.1%）表示在虚拟面试上花费了500美元或更少。一半（50.6%）的人参加了虚拟实习，其中30.4%的人在之后对某个项目的兴趣明显降低。
首个虚拟面试季有几个优点和缺点。从今年吸取的经验教训可用于在未来建立一个更公平、公正和有效的潜在虚拟面试季。
