Mamaril-Davis James C, Nguyen Mary, Yasmeh Jonathan, Leyva Emily, Li Ran, Wang Hongyi, Parikh Tejal
College of Medicine, The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson, Tucson, USA.
College of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson, Tucson, USA.
Cureus. 2023 Dec 24;15(12):e51042. doi: 10.7759/cureus.51042. eCollection 2023 Dec.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presented unforeseen obstacles to prospective medical students such as Medical College of Admission Test (MCAT) scheduling postponements and technical challenges during virtual interviews. Students were also faced with difficult decisions post-submission such as having to choose a program without ever visiting a school in person. The primary objective of the present study is to assess the changes in medical school interview preferences and experiences in the post-COVID-19 era.
A retrospective survey of the class of 2024 (in-person interview group) and class of 2025 (virtual interview group) at an allopathic medical school was conducted in the Fall of 2021 via the Qualtrics XM online survey software (Qualtrics, Provo, UT, USA).
There were 195 survey respondents: 77 students from the in-person interview group and 89 students from the virtual group. More students in the virtual cohort had to reschedule their MCAT compared to the in-person cohort (56.1% versus 14.3%; p<0.001). The in-person group had higher travel-related expenses (>$500) compared to the group who interviewed virtually (65.1% versus 2.4%; p<0.001). More students from the in-person cohort preferred the in-person interview format compared to the virtual cohort (85.7% versus 22.5%; p<0.001). Lastly, 87% of the in-person group and 24.7% of the virtual group felt they were able to gather a clear impression of the atmosphere and culture of a school from the interview trail alone (p<0.001).
Matriculated medical students at an allopathic medical school who applied during the COVID-19 pandemic had more pre-application hurdles when compared to the cohort who applied just prior to the pandemic. Students who primarily had virtual interviews during the pandemic had less travel-related costs but felt more limited in their experience of a school's culture and ability to establish rapport with interviewers. Despite this, however, the virtual group still expressed a preference for virtual interviews.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行给未来的医学生带来了意想不到的障碍，如医学院入学考试（MCAT）安排推迟以及虚拟面试期间的技术挑战。学生在提交申请后还面临艰难的决定，比如不得不选择一个从未亲自参观过的学校项目。本研究的主要目的是评估COVID-19后时代医学院面试偏好和经历的变化。
2021年秋季，通过Qualtrics XM在线调查软件（美国犹他州普罗沃市的Qualtrics公司）对一所opathic医学院的2024级（现场面试组）和2025级（虚拟面试组）进行了回顾性调查。
共有195名受访者：现场面试组77名学生，虚拟面试组89名学生。与现场面试组相比，虚拟面试组中有更多学生不得不重新安排MCAT考试时间（56.1%对14.3%；p<0.001）。现场面试组的旅行相关费用（>500美元）高于虚拟面试组（65.1%对2.4%；p<0.001）。与虚拟面试组相比，现场面试组中有更多学生更喜欢现场面试形式（85.7%对22.5%；p<0.001）。最后，87%的现场面试组和24.7%的虚拟面试组表示，他们仅通过面试就能对学校的氛围和文化有清晰的印象（p<0.001）。
与大流行之前申请的学生群体相比，在COVID-19大流行期间申请的opathic医学院录取的医学生在申请前面临更多障碍。在大流行期间主要进行虚拟面试的学生旅行相关成本较低，但他们对学校文化的体验以及与面试官建立融洽关系的能力受到更多限制。尽管如此，虚拟面试组仍表示更喜欢虚拟面试。
