When COVID-19 forced radiology residency programs to pivot their interview procedures many were unsure how the virtual methods would impact selection processes. However, recent survey results suggest that most programs were able to successfully adapt.
The 2020-21 virtual application cycle presented numerous challenges for radiology programs, especially when it came to evaluating prospective candidates for residency. With pre-interview dinners and in-person department tours sidelined, programs had to embrace virtual meetings.
To gauge how this new system influenced the selection process, researchers at the University of Louisville distributed a 32-question survey to 194 residency programs across the U.S.
“We surveyed radiology program directors on the perceived success of virtual interviewing, preference of virtual versus in-person interviews, primary applicant-ranking criteria, and social media usage,” corresponding author Tracy L. Van Meter, MD, associate professor of Radiology at the University of Louisville, and co-authors explained.
Their survey was completed by 31 programs. About 68% of those programs agreed that the virtual interview cycle was “very successful,” and 87% said they were able to accurately assess the candidates.
Before COVID, only eight of the programs claimed to have had any social media presence. There were 12 additional programs that created Twitter or Instagram accounts to enhance their virtual affairs, however, 87% of those programs said social media did not benefit their interactions with candidates.
The program directors’ responses imply that the virtual interview cycle was successful. After all, there are many advantages to conducting interviews virtually, such as reduced costs and travel time for candidates and the ability to conduct more interviews. But the survey results suggest that there are still mixed feelings about how to move forward in the future, with over half (71%) of the programs remaining undecided on whether they will resume in-person interviews once it is considered safe.
To that note, researchers are planning to deploy a comparative follow-up survey after the 2021-22 radiology match season is complete.
“We posit that virtual interviews represent an adequate substitution for the in-person model and will persist even after the pandemic ends,” the doctors elaborated.
You can view the detailed results in Academic Radiology.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.