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Virtual Interviews Aren’t Perfect but the Benefits Unquestionably Outweigh the Downsides

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The AAMC recently published a piece about the post-pandemic persistence of residency virtual interviews. While some programs still encourage in-person interviews, most now standardly conduct online ones. The AAMC article points out important benefits including financial and environmental.

Something the AAMC article doesn’t specifically touch on is that virtual interviews have likely softened the sting of systemic sexism in the application process. The potential (albeit remote) for a candidate to record an interview or even have another person listening in diminishes the risk of sexist questions. 

What happens in the room between an applicant and faculty member may no longer necessarily stay there. 

Check out the Doximity piece I wrote, “How Virtual Interviews Might Mitigate Systemic Sexism in Medicine.” (Unfortunately, the story I tell at the beginning of the article is only one of several inappropriate questions I got from faculty interviewers when I was a student.) 

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We Need to Decrease the Stress and Inefficiencies Associated with the Residency Application Process

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Inefficiencies in the residency application system have been a problem for many years. While the AAMC and NRMP have made efforts to improve the process, including the move from the Scramble to SOAP a few years back, the lack of adequate slots for a large number of candidates leads to a tremendous amount of unnecessary stress and waste. With the introduction of virtual interviews, hoarding became a new problem.

To their credit, the AAMC is considering some reforms to the system. Allowing applicants to identify favored residency programs, called “preference signaling” through the supplemental ERAS, for example, has improved candidates’ abilities to get interviews at chosen programs. Additionally, some specialties – with AAMC’s support – have implemented a common interview invitation release date and a minimum response time for invitees. In the latter case, for example, most surgery programs provide candidates a minimum of 48 hours to accept or reject an invitation, such that applicants don’t need to sleep with one eye open, jumping to respond to an invitation to avoid the wait list. There has even been a consideration of capping the number of interviews each applicant can have to avoid interview hoarding.

I recommend reading this piece on proposed reforms to the system. Having gone through the stressful process myself, I wholly support strategies that would increase transparency and decrease unnecessary anxiety. 

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Perils of the Virtual Match

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I’ve written before about the benefits of virtual interviews – both with regard to finances and equity. However, the ability to easily hoard residency interviews now has led to an unintended consequence of online access: An increase in qualified applicants who don’t match. Thomas Cook MD, an emergency medicine program director in South Carolina, covers this topic in his piece “The Virtual Match is Like the Toilet Paper Rush.” In it, he points out that when superior candidates accept a very large number of interviews, there are serious negative consequences for their peers. Cook has a suggestion for a potential remedy based on transparency. The piece is worth a read. 

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How to VITAlize your VITA interviews

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At the end of the spring, with the weightiness of COVID clearer, the AAMC (much to their credit) strongly recommended that medical schools and residencies conduct virtual interviews during the upcoming admissions season. Upending years of in-person sessions, the announcement has made a huge impact on this season’s admissions process. Virtual interviews will likely diminish some of the bias that plagued the system previously and will save everyone a bundle of money. 

The AAMC did not urge the use of any particular platform, but it does provide its own, called the Video Interview Tool for Admissions (VITA), for interested medical schools. The AAMC describes VITA as a one-time, one-way recorded video interview to help medical schools assess applicants’ pre-professional competencies that are important for success in medical school. 

The AAMC indicates that VITA questions will target the below capabilities:

  • Social Skills
  • Cultural Competence
  • Teamwork
  • Reliability and Dependability
  • Resilience and Adaptability

An applicant’s VITA session will include six questions presented in text form (no interviewer), and applicants record a video response after having one minute to read and reflect on each question. Candidates then have up to three minutes to record a response. If an applicant needs a break between questions, that’s not a problem: All six questions can be completed in one sitting, or candidates can choose to have breaks of any desired length between questions. (Of course, the interview must be submitted by a medical school’s deadline.)

According to the AAMC, questions can be related to personal experience (e.g. “Why did you choose medicine?”), past behavior (“Describe a time…”), or hypothetical situations (“Imagine you are… What would you do to resolve this issue?”). 

These types of questions can be tricky without practice, but are bread-and-butter for someone who is prepared. 

Remember the time you spent a week studying for the MCAT? No, you don’t ;). That’s because one week is not enough time to study for the MCAT! Along those lines, it’s important to start early, preparing yourself fully for VITA and other virtual interview platforms. Much of interviewing is confidence, which can be developed. Please hire me now for help. 

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Could Virtual Interviews Help Mitigate Systemic Sexism in Medicine?

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Congrats to a few applicants who have already received very early medical school interview invitations. For most, the season will be starting in the next month or so. Virtual interviews through VITA or other platforms will be standard, and how that will affect the admissions process and next year’s medical school classes is anyone’s guess. My guess is that the virtual interview process will reduce discriminatory practices that have plagued the system for a while. See my Doximity article “How Virtual Interviews Might Mitigate Systemic Sexism in Medicine” and please pass it along. 

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About Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more

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