Dineen Sean P, Berman Russell, Blazer Dan, Fahy Bridget, Grignol Valerie, Foshag Leland, Lai Lily, Ongchin Melanie, Reddy Sanjay, Saied Abdul, Scally Christopher, Russell Maria
Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA.
Ann Surg Oncol. 2025 Sep 10. doi: 10.1245/s10434-025-18247-z.
The coronavirus pandemic forced a rapid adoption of electronic education platforms, including a virtual approach for the Complex General Surgical Oncology (CGSO) interviews from 2020 to 2023. In 2024, the SSO recommended a return to in-person interviews when possible. The aim of this study was to survey the applicant perspectives of this approach to the 2024 CGSO Interviews.
Following the 2024 Match, a survey was circulated to matched applicants, which included 31 questions. The survey was voluntary, anonymous and no compensation was offered.
55 applicants responded, representing a response rate of 75.3%. Applicants applied to a median of 30 programs and interviewed at 13. Regarding preference of approach, 80% of applicants indicated that they preferred in-person interviews over virtual (44/55). 74.5% of applicants indicating that they thought the cost of in-person interviews was "worth it". When asked if they felt they could "adequately represent themselves in an in-person interview", 95% affirmed they could; compared to 67% when asked the same question for the virtual approach. Most applicants, 70.1%, felt that programs interviewing virtually were at a disadvantage. The interview affected an applicants' rank list to either "a great extent" or "to some extent" 96% of the time.
The responses to our survey indicate a preference for in-person interviews despite the cost. The benefits of identifying the culture of a program were felt to warrant the financial expense and time away from training. There are limitations to the study, but these results support the adoption of in-person interviews.
冠状病毒大流行迫使迅速采用电子教育平台，包括在2020年至2023年期间对复杂普通外科肿瘤学（CGSO）面试采用虚拟方式。2024年，外科肿瘤学会（SSO）建议尽可能恢复面对面面试。本研究的目的是调查申请者对2024年CGSO面试这种方式的看法。
在2024年面试匹配之后，向匹配的申请者发放了一份包含31个问题的调查问卷。该调查是自愿、匿名的，且不提供报酬。
55名申请者回复，回复率为75.3%。申请者平均申请了30个项目，参加了13次面试。关于面试方式的偏好，80%的申请者表示他们更喜欢面对面面试而非虚拟面试（44/55）。74.5%的申请者表示他们认为面对面面试的成本“物有所值”。当被问及是否觉得自己能“在面对面面试中充分展现自己”时，95%的人肯定了这一点；而对于虚拟面试方式问同样问题时，这一比例为67%。大多数申请者（70.1%）认为采用虚拟面试的项目处于劣势。面试在很大程度上或在一定程度上影响了96%的申请者的排名顺序。
我们的调查结果表明，尽管成本较高，但申请者更喜欢面对面面试。他们认为了解项目文化的好处值得付出经济成本和耽误培训的时间。本研究存在局限性，但这些结果支持采用面对面面试。
