Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06030, USA.
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, White River Junction, VT, USA.
Dig Dis Sci. 2024 Sep;69(9):3156-3164. doi: 10.1007/s10620-024-08551-1. Epub 2024 Jul 8.
Virtual interviews are still recommended for fellowship applications, 3 years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Improving equity by reducing the cost for the applicants has been the most important reason for continuing virtual interviews. However, some argue that important information may be missed in a virtual setting. Our objective was to assess the perspective of Gastroenterology (GI) fellowship interviewers and applicants toward virtual interviews.
We designed two different anonymous surveys directed at GI programs and GI applicants who were interviewed for GI fellowship programs from 2020 to 2022 and matched to a GI program. Survey links were emailed to the Program Directors (PDs) and Program Coordinators via the AGA listserv starting in January 2023. A descriptive analysis was performed using Excel, and Fisher's exact tests were performed using R version 4.3.1.
Sixty-one applicants and 79 interviewers responded to our survey. More than 80% of applicants strongly agreed (n = 36; 59%) and agreed (n = 14; 23%) that they would prefer in-person interviews if money was not an issue. When applicants were asked about the interview format in order of their preference, "in-person, hybrid, virtual" was the most popular answer (n = 16; 26.2%). Most interviewers (n = 47; 59.5%) do not prefer virtual interviews over in-person interviews. Furthermore, some interviewers were rarely able to judge the applicants' interpersonal (n = 17; 21.5%) and ethical skills (n = 16; 20.3%). These results differed according to the type of interviewer (p = 0.013 and 0.018, respectively).
Based on our survey, most programs still prefer in-person interviews. Despite the several advantages of virtual interviews, the majority of applicants would prefer an in-person setting if the financial burden was not a factor. Nonetheless, many applicants think that the cost savings outweigh all the disadvantages associated with virtual interviews. The lack of empathy, personal connections, and engagement may impact the ability of interviewers to judge and ultimately rank a candidate. The virtual interview is here to stay, and we need input from the applicants and the interviewers to make the process more productive.
在 COVID-19 大流行开始三年后，虚拟面试仍被推荐用于奖学金申请。通过降低申请人的成本来提高公平性一直是继续进行虚拟面试的最重要原因。然而，有人认为在虚拟环境中可能会错过重要信息。我们的目的是评估胃肠病学（GI）研究员和申请人对虚拟面试的看法。
我们设计了两份不同的匿名调查，分别针对 2020 年至 2022 年接受 GI 研究员面试的 GI 项目和 GI 研究员申请人，并与 GI 项目相匹配。调查链接于 2023 年 1 月通过 AGA 列表服务发送给项目主任（PD）和项目协调员。使用 Excel 进行描述性分析，并使用 R 版本 4.3.1 进行 Fisher 精确检验。
61 名申请人和 79 名面试官对我们的调查做出了回应。超过 80%的申请人强烈同意（n=36；59%）和同意（n=14；23%）如果没有资金问题，他们更愿意进行面对面的面试。当申请人按照他们的偏好顺序被问及面试形式时，“面对面、混合、虚拟”是最受欢迎的答案（n=16；26.2%）。大多数面试官（n=47；59.5%）不喜欢虚拟面试而不是面对面面试。此外，一些面试官很少能够判断申请人的人际交往（n=17；21.5%）和道德技能（n=16；20.3%）。这些结果因面试官的类型而异（p=0.013 和 0.018，分别）。
根据我们的调查，大多数项目仍然更喜欢面对面的面试。尽管虚拟面试有几个优点，但如果经济负担不是一个因素，大多数申请人更愿意进行面对面的面试。尽管如此，许多申请人认为节省成本超过了与虚拟面试相关的所有缺点。缺乏同理心、个人联系和参与可能会影响面试官判断和最终对候选人进行排名的能力。虚拟面试已经存在，我们需要申请人和面试官的意见来使这个过程更有成效。
