I swear if residency interviews are virtual this year

[Doggeronie]

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Smh..... that would suck

How am I supposed to figure out where I'm going to spend the next 3 years of my life after a 20 minute zoom call

 

[managedcarefin]

The same way everyone else who is applying is going to figure it out... Yes this really sucks for everyone but I’d say programs have more risk than students in this situation.

 

[Doggeronie]

Wake me up inside

 

[aSagacious]

It sucks. But silver lining is you can wipe away your tears with your $10,000 in saved travel expenses. 😉

 

[Doggeronie]

Interviews being virtual better not negatively affect my match outcome

 

[Oedipa Maas]

So I know this is more of a post to vent. But first things first, don’t waste time worrying about stuff that hasn’t happened yet. You can’t change it now and you won’t be able to change it then whatever it may be. Take this time to thoroughly research programs and places. My partner didn’t visit a single place I interviewed due to work at the time so we watched driving/walking tours, spent time on google maps/yelp/housing websites and subreddits for those places. There are lots of ways to vibe check locations through the internet. Be proactive and lean into the resources available to you. Many specialities already have their application spreadsheets and many have tabs detailing program and location impressions with spots to ask questions. You are going to have to do extra legwork but that’s nothing new. There are going to be people who came before you who will be happy to help however they can, knowing your class has had all this extra strife.

 

[efle]

On the flip side, how many of us really chose our med school or college based on any of the stuff they show you at interviews? As long as we still get to talk to some current residents, maybe it won't be that bad. The big factors like location, cost of living, reputation, fellowships available there and prior fellowship matches, and so on won't be changing.

 

[You shall know the Truth]

Everyone is in a similar position

 

[hallowmann]

You really won't be missing anything. The biggest part of the day is a tour of the hospital and/or area that looks like every other damn hospital and that you won't remember. I second the fact that the $5-$10k you save will keep you warm on those lonely Zoom interview nights. If you actually go through it, you'll realize how ridiculous most interviews are. The most valuable part really is talking to the interviewers and other residents, and even that is of questionable value sometimes.

 

[KnuxNole]

Smh..... that would suck

How am I supposed to figure out where I'm going to spend the next 3 years of my life after a 20 minute zoom call

It’ll probably be much longer than 20 minutes

Interview times will probably be the same length

Look at some of the bright sides:

Saving money on interview shoes

Pants may be optional

You can hold your cat during the interview

Having a cocktail in between interviews - ok perhaps don’t take this one at face value

 

[Pepe18]

There’s been talks of second looks in January/February. Most applicants match in their top 4, so you might have the chance to check out a few of your top choices. It’s important to travel to the area. 2/3 of my interviews were places I’ve never been and I didn’t like locations that I thought I would like.

I would also figure out a way to talk to residents one on one. You’re not going to find out the program’s dirt in a group chat with all residents. Not having interviews isn’t as bad as not having aways for surgical specialties though.

I wonder if attendings will censor themselves since they could be recorded on video interviews. You could be missing out on all those red flag crazy statements and illegal questions if they do

 

[Mad Jack]

You really won't be missing anything. The biggest part of the day is a tour of the hospital and/or area that looks like every other damn hospital and that you won't remember. I second the fact that the $5-$10k you save will keep you warm on those lonely Zoom interview nights. If you actually go through it, you'll realize how ridiculous most interviews are. The most valuable part really is talking to the interviewers and other residents, and even that is of questionable value sometimes.

The most important part for me was seeing how dead inside the residents looked. Really gave me an indication of where to go

 

[throwaway1000000]

Ya will echo what some people said here. For IM, I didn't think the interviews really changed my rank list. Already knew my top 3 based on location, prestige, and fellowship match. The only other thing that I really gained from interviews was the interaction with the PDs. But you will have that with zoom.
I didn't spend much, i think around maybe around 3000, and would have happily saved the extra 2k (900 was on apps). If I had to spend 5k-10k on interviews, I would opt for zoom interviews if I had a choice
This is not universal advice. Everyone has different ways they are planning on making their rank lists.

 

[throwaway1000000]

You really won't be missing anything. The biggest part of the day is a tour of the hospital and/or area that looks like every other damn hospital and that you won't remember. I second the fact that the $5-$10k you save will keep you warm on those lonely Zoom interview nights. If you actually go through it, you'll realize how ridiculous most interviews are. The most valuable part really is talking to the interviewers and other residents, and even that is of questionable value sometimes.

Ya for real lmao. If you go to a reputable academic program, all of them are pretty much the same and will give you solid training.
This is for IM, not sure about other fields

 

[Small Cell Carcinoma]

Now just imagine of this all happened in the year 1970 and all you had was a phone call to learn about your program instead of the internet and a virtual interview.

 

[y123]

I like virtual interviews. I wish I had those.

 

[longhaul3]

Interviews being virtual better not negatively affect my match outcome

or else...

Besides shaking your first at a virus there's not much to be done. We are still about 6 months away from interview season heating up if the schedule stays the same, so maybe things will look different. Hard to say. But based on your post, I assume you're planning on IM—that's probably the field where interviews, character of the program, and location matter the least. It's 3 years and you'll have a big class that will make it more likely for you to find people you like. Besides the PD, you'll interview with one attending drawn at random who you may or may not even work with during residency. The small specialties are going to have it a little tougher, since you're in it for 5-7 years and they'll basically have to figure out who will get along with everyone in the program over Zoom. I get the need to vent but in the end you can only control what you can control.

 

[mistafab]

As well as all those wasted hours/days sitting in your car or airports

It sucks. But silver lining is you can wipe away your tears with your $10,000 in saved travel expenses. 😉

 

[Doggeronie]

As well as all those wasted hours/days sitting in your car or airports

i wanted to fly... i love getting on airplanes smh

 

[mistafab]

You could put the gobs of money you save towards a pilot’s license.

i wanted to fly... i love getting on airplanes smh

 

[asdf123g]

Probably just means more people will get extended interview invites. Win-win.

 

[Neopolymath]

Honestly, even as a congenial person IRL, I am 100% for virtual interviews. I've worked in a lot of hospitals. I don't need to see a cafeteria or the stupid gazebo on the side of the building. If I can't do an away, I sure as **** don't care about seeing a helipad, the OR, the reading room, the lounge, or whatever dumb stuff each specialty always does on tours. The only way this matters is if you are going into a more malignant field like GS and need to see the hidden signs of a shady program.

Hell, honestly zoom interviews might mean that the programs actually give you the information everyone wants instead of making each applicant ask for it every interview. In a year or two it could be a great thing.

 

[Frogger27]

Yeah I think for a lot of fields (particular large class sizes and 3 year residencies) virtual interviews wont matter much, but for most of the surgical fields where it is smaller resident classes with 5-7 year commitments it is a much bigger deal

 

[Oedipa Maas]

Probably just means more people will get extended interview invites. Win-win.

I actually don't think this is a win-win, especially because you wouldn't know if that was actually happening or not. More invites for the same number of spots does not mean more people would match. The implications behind "more interviews" are "more interviews for people who under normal circumstances would not be getting that number of interviews". Which could create a false sense of security for those applicants. Applicants tend to look at previous application cycles to determine how many programs they should apply to and how many interviews they should attend to feel "safe". That data wouldn't be useful anymore if programs start significantly increasing interview spots. How do you even begin to conceptualize how many interviews you would "need" to go on? And then would this mean programs would increase their rank list length as well? More people on a given program's interview list and rank list doesn't necessarily help you personally.

 

[SurgDoc95]

I actually don't think this is a win-win, especially because you wouldn't know if that was actually happening or not. More invites for the same number of spots does not mean more people would match. The implications behind "more interviews" are "more interviews for people who under normal circumstances would not be getting that number of interviews". Which could create a false sense of security for those applicants. Applicants tend to look at previous application cycles to determine how many programs they should apply to and how many interviews they should attend to feel "safe". That data wouldn't be useful anymore if programs start significantly increasing interview spots. How do you even begin to conceptualize how many interviews you would "need" to go on? And then would this mean programs would increase their rank list length as well? More people on a given program's interview list and rank list doesn't necessarily help you personally.

This X1000000

 

[Doggeronie]

Fauci better invent this vaccine next month

 

[mehc012]

Probably just means more people will get extended interview invites. Win-win.

You mean lose-lose, where we have to interview more, rank more, and fall lower on our lists, increasing the uncertainty on both ends. Over-interviewing and over-applying is why programs are pushed to yield protect and mistrust applicant statements of interest.

I dunno, but as someone in a fairly unique position of participating in both years' Matches (and suffering the rare, but severe consequences of the already too-high application/interview volumes) I am NOT excited about the prospect of limitless Zoom interviews. As brutal as last year's cycle was, I'd rather do it again than deal with this new setup that people keep proposing.

 

[throwaway1000000]

Why would programs extend more interviews through zoom? If a program gave out 150 interviews during a normal season, why would they magically give out 250 interviews during this season?

 

[CyrilFiggis]

It’s as if there is anyone who is happy about any of the changes happening now. You think PDs want to do virtual interviews?

 

[peachrings]

I really don't see programs extending more interviews. The reason to extend more interviews is to see if applicants who are worse on paper can wow in person. With remote interviews that is harder to do, so I think interviews will be demoted in importance.

 

[Mass Effect]

Now just imagine of this all happened in the year 1970 and all you had was a phone call to learn about your program instead of the internet and a virtual interview.

No need to go back to 1970. Try 1990.

 

[Mass Effect]

The only way this matters is if you are going into a more malignant field like GS and need to see the hidden signs of a shady program.

Not necessarily true. I'm in psych and was able to not rank a program that appeared shady by the fact that (a) the PD showed up at the dinner to "surprise" us and (b) an intern totally changed her tune when she realized the chief was behind her listening to what she was saying.

I also didn't rank another program in which the PD dug into everyone's childhood and possible mommy/daddy issues during the interview. Doubt he'd do that on Zoom.

 

[Neopolymath]

Not necessarily true. I'm in psych and was able to not rank a program that appeared shady by the fact that (a) the PD showed up at the dinner to "surprise" us and (b) an intern totally changed her tune when she realized the chief was behind her listening to what she was saying.

I also didn't rank another program in which the PD dug into everyone's childhood and possible mommy/daddy issues during the interview. Doubt he'd do that on Zoom.

That makes sense. My follow up question would be do you think it actually matters? We only train at one program so we can really only imagine about other training. So, if you went to that program you didn't rank (because you did a zoom interview in our alternate reality) would you even know it was different barring some truly egregious behavior?

I know we want to maintain any tiny semblance of control in a pretty stressful process but I do wonder if any of this actually matters in the end.

 

[Mass Effect]

That makes sense. My follow up question would be do you think it actually matters? We only train at one program so we can really only imagine about other training. So, if you went to that program you didn't rank (because you did a zoom interview in our alternate reality) would you even know it was different barring some truly egregious behavior?

I know we want to maintain any tiny semblance of control in a pretty stressful process but I do wonder if any of this actually matters in the end.

It absolutely matters. If you don't believe that, dig up some of the resident horror stories on here. I know it's common fodder to think residents are always wrong, but sometimes programs are very malignant and this can affect your emotional health as well as your career.

For instance, the incident with the first program taught me that interns are in fear that if they're honest about their program, they'll get in trouble. And the PD showing up? Was she trying to intimidate the residents who are supposed to be able to talk freely to us at the dinner? Do I want to go somewhere that puts off that vibe while trying to impress me? What will they do when they're not trying to impress me?

The second guy -- is he going to psychoanalyze me for 4 years? Am I going to be worried that if I do poorly on medicine, he'll think it's attributed to daddy issues with the attending? Will every conversation I have with him be about deep dark secrets or psychological issues? Hell no. I like boundaries, especially with my boss and especially when I'm literally stuck there for 4 years.

 

[curbsideconsult]

The cost and time savings will be great, but I empathize with OP's concerns. There are some things that just can't be captured in online interviews, like gut feeling. I know it's completely unscientific, but there's something to be said about those nagging feelings that keep creeping up even if a program seems perfect on paper and everyone seemed to say all the right things during interviews.

 

[Neopolymath]

It absolutely matters. If you don't believe that, dig up some of the resident horror stories on here. I know it's common fodder to think residents are always wrong, but sometimes programs are very malignant and this can affect your emotional health as well as your career.

For instance, the incident with the first program taught me that interns are in fear that if they're honest about their program, they'll get in trouble. And the PD showing up? Was she trying to intimidate the residents who are supposed to be able to talk freely to us at the dinner? Do I want to go somewhere that puts off that vibe while trying to impress me? What will they do when they're not trying to impress me?

The second guy -- is he going to psychoanalyze me for 4 years? Am I going to be worried that if I do poorly on medicine, he'll think it's attributed to daddy issues with the attending? Will every conversation I have with him be about deep dark secrets or psychological issues? Hell no. I like boundaries, especially with my boss and especially when I'm literally stuck there for 4 years.

Of course, those things make sense. So did the residents in those horror stories we all have read miss these signs at the interview or is it possible that they could not know these things from an interview because it's easy as **** to sweep the dirt under the rug for 1 day?

I just wonder if it's all luck and the bad fate of some isn't based on blaming the victim for not seeing it at the interview. Of course there will be outliers though.

 

[efle]

It's the loss of the pre-interview dinner I'm most concerned about. Seems like chatting up a resident that's had a beer or two will get you a much, much more honest impression of their life and happiness. An awkward zoom panel is NOT going to be as revealing. I know for both med school and college decisions, the interviews and websites all blended together and the real value was from having informal discussions with current students who were willing to speak their mind.

 

[Chelsea FC]

I've never done leg day a day in my life. Anything to hide these toothpicks is a plus.

 

[hellanutella]

It's the loss of the pre-interview dinner I'm most concerned about. Seems like chatting up a resident that's had a beer or two will get you a much, much more honest impression of their life and happiness. An awkward zoom panel is NOT going to be as revealing. I know for both med school and college decisions, the interviews and websites all blended together and the real value was from having informal discussions with current students who were willing to speak their mind.

Agreed.

And for programs. While these applicants are by far, far in the minority, this can also be a means for sussing out problematic behaviour. At least for my cycle, some very accomplished people with stacked interview rosters (so clearly great grades, LoRs, etc.) did not match, but had very interesting conduct at the socials. At one of my interviews, they even queried how coapplicants interacted with one another. However, I'm in a 7-year residency, so maybe we put more weight on this?

I think a virtual cycle will cause applicants to tap more into connections – be it faculty, friends, alums, etc. for this information. However, not everyone has a large or candid alumni/professional network to source from. Personally, I relied a lot on my coapplicants' experiences at their subIs + home, but with aways largely being kaput (and some home students not even being able to complete a subI) this closes more doors. It'll be interesting to see what avenues programs come up with to substitute the in-the-flesh elements.

 

[sharkbyte]

It's the loss of the pre-interview dinner I'm most concerned about. Seems like chatting up a resident that's had a beer or two will get you a much, much more honest impression of their life and happiness. An awkward zoom panel is NOT going to be as revealing. I know for both med school and college decisions, the interviews and websites all blended together and the real value was from having informal discussions with current students who were willing to speak their mind.

Agreed. Interviewed this past cycle and honestly the dinners were better than the interview day for me. Got tiring near the end sure, but I got to ask a lot of good questions to the residents and hear their honest thoughts about stuff, and it was also nice just to kind of gauge the personalities and vibe of the residents, even when talking about other non-program related things.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Pants may be optional
on’t take this one at face value

I'm seriously considering "show me your pants" as one of my interview questions.

OK, maybe not.

I wonder if attendings will censor themselves since they could be recorded on video interviews. You could be missing out on all those red flag crazy statements and illegal questions if they do

Be careful. Many states have two way consent. Recording someone without their permission who is in one of these states would be illegal.

Why would programs extend more interviews through zoom? If a program gave out 150 interviews during a normal season, why would they magically give out 250 interviews during this season?

I think it depends on how programs manage their slots. Some programs define how many spots they have, invite more than that, and have a waitlist. Others invite the people they want, overbook later days in the season knowing that people will cancel. For the first, no change. For the second, probably big change as cancellations are likely to be much lower.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

In all seriousness, let's flip this discussion around. Let's assume we're all doing virtual interviews. What could programs do that would be helpful?

Most programs have some sort of PD presentation -- that can clearly be recorded video, watch anytime you want.
Interviews themselves can be video-live.

Or not? Should they be telephone (no video) only to prevent "appearance bias"? Or should they be one-way video -- you can see me, I can't see you?

What can programs do to best have you schmooze with current residents? I was thinking that we might still buy our residents dinner, set up virtual rooms with a limited number of applicants, and let you meet and talk. Should the rooms be themed -- based on interest (fellowship, research, hobbies, etc), or based upon geography (where you are from), or based upon social situation (single, married)? Or just completely random?

Should we buy you dinner? GrubHub gift cards or similar? (why am I asking this.... I know the answer I will get).

I'm looking for creative, insane, ridiculous ideas.

 

[efle]

In all seriousness, let's flip this discussion around. Let's assume we're all doing virtual interviews. What could programs do that would be helpful?

Most programs have some sort of PD presentation -- that can clearly be recorded video, watch anytime you want.
Interviews themselves can be video-live.

Or not? Should they be telephone (no video) only to prevent "appearance bias"? Or should they be one-way video -- you can see me, I can't see you?

What can programs do to best have you schmooze with current residents? I was thinking that we might still buy our residents dinner, set up virtual rooms with a limited number of applicants, and let you meet and talk. Should the rooms be themed -- based on interest (fellowship, research, hobbies, etc), or based upon geography (where you are from), or based upon social situation (single, married)? Or just completely random?

Should we buy you dinner? GrubHub gift cards or similar? (why am I asking this.... I know the answer I will get).

I'm looking for creative, insane, ridiculous ideas.

Have you or others started seriously considering the "second look weekend" idea? I loved it for med school decision-making. Maybe something like, "please come visit us on these dates if you plan to rank us in your top 4?"

I'd be a lot less stressed about it if I knew I'd at least get to visit the cities and meet some residents in person for my handful of favorites.

The big issue here would be preventing PDs from changing around the ranklist based on who attended

 

[Doggeronie]

It's the loss of the pre-interview dinner I'm most concerned about. Seems like chatting up a resident that's had a beer or two will get you a much, much more honest impression of their life and happiness. An awkward zoom panel is NOT going to be as revealing. I know for both med school and college decisions, the interviews and websites all blended together and the real value was from having informal discussions with current students who were willing to speak their mind.

I agree. That's what I was really looking forward to

 

[kraskadva]

In all seriousness, let's flip this discussion around. Let's assume we're all doing virtual interviews. What could programs do that would be helpful?

Most programs have some sort of PD presentation -- that can clearly be recorded video, watch anytime you want.
Interviews themselves can be video-live.

Or not? Should they be telephone (no video) only to prevent "appearance bias"? Or should they be one-way video -- you can see me, I can't see you?

What can programs do to best have you schmooze with current residents? I was thinking that we might still buy our residents dinner, set up virtual rooms with a limited number of applicants, and let you meet and talk. Should the rooms be themed -- based on interest (fellowship, research, hobbies, etc), or based upon geography (where you are from), or based upon social situation (single, married)? Or just completely random?

Should we buy you dinner? GrubHub gift cards or similar? (why am I asking this.... I know the answer I will get).

I'm looking for creative, insane, ridiculous ideas.

This vvvvv is important

It's the loss of the pre-interview dinner I'm most concerned about. Seems like chatting up a resident that's had a beer or two will get you a much, much more honest impression of their life and happiness. An awkward zoom panel is NOT going to be as revealing. I know for both med school and college decisions, the interviews and websites all blended together and the real value was from having informal discussions with current students who were willing to speak their mind.

Setting up a social call, unmonitored by PDs, with the residents who are willing to tell the good, bad, and the ugly of the program would go a long way towards making me think that this is a program I would want to be at. A program willing to do this - as opposed to one that would be afraid to let it happen, or wouldn't think to offer it - would definitely rank higher for me.

Edit for more thoughts:

"What can programs do to best have you schmooze with current residents? I was thinking that we might still buy our residents dinner, set up virtual rooms with a limited number of applicants, and let you meet and talk. Should the rooms be themed -- based on interest (fellowship, research, hobbies, etc), or based upon geography (where you are from), or based upon social situation (single, married)? Or just completely random?"

Yes, that's good. Have a larger, general group and have rotating "Breakout rooms" where different residents are hanging out to talk about different aspects, that applicants could rotate through, with maybe a chief acting as host to shuffle people around. So folks can pop into topics they want to ask about, but also have the general social pool to chat with.

 

[Giovanotto]

I think it's great that a lot of people seem to be maintaining a positive attitude about the possibility of virtual interviews, but as someone who has just gone through it and hated it, I would rather do it again than be forced to do virtual interviews. I was fairly level-headed about the interviews and didn't go on more than 11. Some interviews were straight up fun and easy going. Plus, I got to travel all around the country and make friends, which obviously cost me money, but no where near as much as I had imagined. Heck I even ran into some students from aways at these interviews. And, I got to go to NYC! I viewed the whole experience as another opportunity for growth. Anyways, I hope the covid situation improves enough and interviews are pushed back and in person, you guys worked hard for it and deserve it.

Interviews for better or worse hugely impacted my rank list. There were programs I was considering in my top 1-3 that fell down due to poor location and residents at the dinner looking "crispy". Don't even get me started about my interview in Texas. One interview in Arizona felt so staged we might as well have been in Hollywood. And then there's watching how other applicants behave....tons of memories from interview season, I could probably write a fairly entertaining book about it.

 

[Mass Effect]

Agreed.

And for programs. While these applicants are by far, far in the minority, this can also be a means for sussing out problematic behaviour. At least for my cycle, some very accomplished people with stacked interview rosters (so clearly great grades, LoRs, etc.) did not match, but had very interesting conduct at the socials. At one of my interviews, they even queried how coapplicants interacted with one another. However, I'm in a 7-year residency, so maybe we put more weight on this?

Nope, it's not just you. If anyone thinks how applicants interact with each other doesn't count, they're fooling themselves. It definitely matters and comes up in rank list meetings if someone is rude or dominates the conversation.

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

Of all the things that would make me delay a year, online interviews comes the closest to convincing me. Too bad Canada already made a decision on doing virtual interviews; the chances that we will follow suit are like 95%..

 

[DoctwoB]

Current chief resident here. I think the two most important parts of the interview are (1) The shmoozing with residents/pre-interview dinner and (2) the PD or chair presentation. Number 2 tells you the nuts and bolts of the program, as well as how they are trying to present themselves, and can easily be done virtually. Number 1 is essential for getting the straight scoop, what the residents like and don't like about their program and is trickier, but doable. The rest of the day (hospital tour, etc.) is pretty irrelevant IMO. Hospitals are hospitals. Seeing the city/neighborhood is also a nice part of the interview day but a lot of that research can be done online.

I like APDs idea about buying the residents dinner and doing a virtual event. The problem with a zoom meeting though is they have to be small for everyone to be able to talk, much like how naturally these events tend to break into 2-5 person groups to talk about the program. I'd suggest having X zoom rooms open where X = # applicants + residents / 4ish and people can move from room to room. Residents could be assigned a room but honestly having the residents move about and interact is also important, because seeing how the residents interact is also an important part of the dinner.

 

[Oedipa Maas]

In all seriousness, let's flip this discussion around. Let's assume we're all doing virtual interviews. What could programs do that would be helpful?

Most programs have some sort of PD presentation -- that can clearly be recorded video, watch anytime you want.
Interviews themselves can be video-live.

Or not? Should they be telephone (no video) only to prevent "appearance bias"? Or should they be one-way video -- you can see me, I can't see you?

What can programs do to best have you schmooze with current residents? I was thinking that we might still buy our residents dinner, set up virtual rooms with a limited number of applicants, and let you meet and talk. Should the rooms be themed -- based on interest (fellowship, research, hobbies, etc), or based upon geography (where you are from), or based upon social situation (single, married)? Or just completely random?

Should we buy you dinner? GrubHub gift cards or similar? (why am I asking this.... I know the answer I will get).

I'm looking for creative, insane, ridiculous ideas.

Last year I really appreciated the program that had a bunch of short orientation videos from the PD. They were separated out by topic (program overview, special tracks, living in the area, schedule/rotations, etc) and very easy to reference as I prepared for the interview. Plus filming multiple short videos means less editing. If you mess up, it also means you only have to re-shoot that focused part. The PD still did a short in-person presentation as well which was helpful in its own way to put us at ease and probably helped refresh the memory of those who watched the videos awhile back.

I like the idea of zoom rooms for interacting with residents in groups. The dinners were so important to understand the vibe of a place and I found myself not feeling as strongly about places that did not have them. I would also recommend really amping up the "current resident" section of your website. Maybe for each resident it's a picture and a bio, maybe it's a video bio, maybe a few "day in the life" type videos or written sections where residents speak to different rotations? Bios were something that helped me even in the normal season, and I always felt a bit wary when places weren't "showing off" their residents. There was one place that I didn't apply to because the resident bios did not sound like "me" at all. There was another place that the bios made me excited to meet the residents because they came across as interesting, warm, and down to earth. They don't have to be extensive but a few sentences about where people are from, what they like to do, professional interests, and what they like about the program or location really goes a long way.