Effectiveness of Virtual Residency Interviews: Interviewer Perspectives

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Virtual residency interviews were widely utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the effective-ness, advantages, barriers, and acceptability of virtual interviews, casting un-certainty about how interviews should be conducted after the pandemic. We conducted a survey of interviewers to inform future decisions. METHODS: We developed and implemented an online postinterview survey of interviewers representing seven residency programs and two clinical psy-chology programs at one midsized academic medical center. We analyzed results using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Of 312 interviewers, 136 completed the survey (44% response rate). A majority rated virtual interviews as very or extremely effective in cre-ating a comfortable setting (79%), answering interviewee questions (86%), establishing a sense of connection (59%), evaluating interviewee strengths (64%), and communicating program culture (51%). About half felt virtual interviews were not effective at all or only slightly effective for evaluating interviewee strengths via informal interactions (51%). A similar portion agreed or strongly agreed that virtual tours (44%) and social environment (50%) infor-mation were adequate. The most frequent advantages were time efficiency (81%), reduced carbon footprint (61%) and cost savings (56%). Frequent dis-advantages included technological issues (21%) and caregiving duties (18%). Most interviewers (91%) thought some form of virtual interviews should be incorporated postpandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Interviewers found virtual interviews to be effective in most aspects, and identified more advantages than barriers. The vast majority pre-ferred incorporation of virtual interviews in the future. Virtual tours and social activities were areas for improvement.