Table 1.
Summary of strategies and applications to support programs and candidates in the virtual residency selection process.
| Virtual Resident Interview Strategy (Timing) | Description | Select Virtual Applicationsa |
|---|---|---|
| Overview of Program for candidates (Asynchronous) | Initial introduction to Program. Suggest welcome remarks from Chair and Program Director, virtual tour of hospital and facilities, and a glimpse of neighboring geography and resources. | Puck Vimeo Panopto |
| Candidate virtual cover letter (Asynchronous) | Screening tool for Programs, assessed by multiple faculty members with uniform evaluation criteria. Candidates instructed to provide an “elevator pitch” or answer two or three structured questions. Two to 3 min, and there MUST be uniformity of the video platform and a standard background used by all candidates with no enhancements permitted. | Loom Puck Apple Video Toolbox |
| Individual candidate virtual interview (Synchronous) | Consider including one to two faculty members (maximum) with one candidate per session, and numerous sessions. Only faculty members and candidates faces should be seen, and standard dress attire should be planned for all. Programs should consider optimizing technology by using “waiting rooms,” or “break-out rooms,” as well as built in timers, and questions via the “chat” functions. | Zoom GoToMeeting BlueJeans |
| Formal group follow-up (Synchronous) | A follow up “second look” synchronous (live) webinar. A 1-h live webinar could include interested candidates, faculty members and residents. Invitations should be sent to all synchronous interviewees. Ground rules should state that candidate inquiries should come in the form of live typed questions in chat rooms viewed by the entire group. A moderator can monitor the “chat” and assign specific faculty members to response. | Zoom CareerEco WebEx Microsoft Teams |
| Informal group mixing (Synchronous) | A virtual “happy hour,” or question and answer session to help ascertain applicant characteristics not gleaned from the formal interviews, as well as the culture of the program for candidates. | High Fidelity Zoom Microsoft Teams |
a
We have no financial interests and are not endorsing any of these vendors. Instead, we provide their names as examples of well-known entities in this arena.