What are current thoughts on remote interviews for the coming cycle?

[deleted555445]

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I know the adcom you're referring to. If s/he has said virtual interviews are all but guaranteed at almost all schools, then why are so many med schools still silent?

They're not, a lot of schools have said that they will likely be doing virtual interviews this year. In the end it will come down to the individual school, but many have seen the benefits to the students and gotten positive feedback from virtual interviews, and many have also invested in 2-year contracts in their virtual interview software and need to justify the purchase.

Its a different scenario than having students in-person as students, once they arrive, are not traveling. The school can control how often they get tested. The school can isolate them. And the benefits to the student are pretty obvious. None of those are true for people flying across the country, and then home, just to talk to someone in basically the same way they could through a webcam. Yes there is some loss, I certainly think I would do better in-person rather than virtual, but it is spread evenly across all applicants. Plus students can save literal thousands of dollars (flights from the West Coast to the East Coast are expensive, and many Californians are not getting interviews at California schools) and the headache of travel. From listening to podcasts and talking with schools at the Virtual Fair, it seems that many are likely doing virtual interviews this year and seriously considering doing virtual interviews in perpetuity. They'll all offer some sort of second look where, once you get in, you can look at the campus and meet the students etc. I think that would be the ideal system.

 

[KnightDoc]

Yes, according to the MSQ report, "the median number of interviews offered and the median number of interviews attended ... was 3 interviews."

The same report you're referring to also mentions that "The median cost reported for attending those interviews was $600." Many med schools also provide student hosts to help offset costs.

KnightDoc himself said that flying out to NYU for an interview, despite them having a single digit post-interview acceptance rate, as potentially worth the investment.

In my opinion, virtual interviews are not able to capture the social mannerisms and body behavior one would be able to detect in an in-person interview. Yes, while they are more convenient, I do not think virtual interviews are as effective as in-person interviews.

1,000,000% true, but please don't take me out of context. I absolutely would spend whatever it took for a 15% shot (I don't remember where single digit came from, but the correct number is that NYU ultimately issues around 150 As (including offers off the WL) to fill a class of around 100, and interviews around 1,000 people to do so) at free tuition at a T10 (now T5) school. That's totally not the same thing as saying I'd rather spend that money than have all interviews be virtual.

You are also 1,000,000% percent correct about in person interviews being better, for both parties. The fact remains, however, that $600, or $6,000 for that matter, means different things to different people, and there is no reason to require that expenditure of time and money when there is a viable, although imperfect, alternative. Plenty of time for touching and feeling at a second look day.

If it really is so damn important to see us in person, maybe schools should budget and pay for it themselves. I doubt they'd think it's worth their money, so it's pretty obnoxious to use the leverage a sellers' market allows to impose that cost on us.

 

[Goro]

I know the adcom you're referring to. If s/he has said virtual interviews are all but guaranteed at almost all schools, then why are so many med schools still silent?

Because as mentioned above, they're waiting to see the trajectory of the pandemic.

 

[Zuggelder]

Because as mentioned above, they're waiting to see the trajectory of the pandemic.

Yes, that's exactly my point. Most schools are in wait and watch mode with the anticipation of a return to in-person interviews. If they're so eager to accommodate those "positive reviews" or take advantage of their 2 year virtual interview software contracts, then why wait to announce?

Scientific studies are confirming that transmission of the virus is extremely low if you are vaccinated. So even if people are flying around on a plane, you won't need to quarantine and you won't infect someone at an interview if everyone is vaccinated. And as I said prior, anyone who wants a vaccine can get one today!

Guidance from the CDC issued in April 2021 states that "fully vaccinated people may travel more freely within the US. Travelers do not need to get COVID testing before or after travel and do not need to quarantine, unless required by local or state authorities."

 

[Moko]

Plenty of time for touching and feeling at a second look day.

I know that this is not what you meant, but the above is inadvisable on multiple different levels. 😳

To contribute to this thread: I'm hoping that my school will remain virtual for the 2021-2022 cycle, if not longer. A final decision has not been made yet at my school. In addition to addressing applicant disparities and decreasing financial barriers to application, I have rather enjoyed the convenience of virtual interviews and virtual meetings. Personally, I have not found virtual interviewing to have interfered with my ability to fairly evaluate and/or connect with applicants.

Will some applicants perform better in-person? Absolutely, but as this past year has shown us with telemedicine, physicians need to be adaptable as well. The benefits of in-person interviewing is fairly marginal in my opinion, though I know of others who see greater benefit of live interviews. Just my thoughts

 

[Current-big-pharma-shill]

The benefits of in-person interviewing is fairly marginal in my opinion, though I know of others who see greater benefit of live interviews

“Well that interview went fantastically, but he wore a red tie and his handshake wasn’t firm enough, I can’t trust his judgment and I certainly can’t trust his ability to hold a scalpel. Well better luck to them next year.”

that’s how I imagine the kind of ADCOM member who likes in person interviews more.

 

[KnightDoc]

I know that this is not what you meant, but the above is inadvisable on multiple different levels. 😳

To contribute to this thread: I'm hoping that my school will remain virtual for the 2021-2022 cycle, if not longer. A final decision has not been made yet at my school. In addition to addressing applicant disparities and decreasing financial barriers to application, I have rather enjoyed the convenience of virtual interviews and virtual meetings. Personally, I have not found virtual interviewing to have interfered with my ability to fairly evaluate and/or connect with applicants.

Will some applicants perform better in-person? Absolutely, but as this past year has shown us with telemedicine, physicians need to be adaptable as well. The benefits of in-person interviewing is fairly marginal in my opinion, though I know of others who see greater benefit of live interviews. Just my thoughts

Sorry -- I'm so stupid, I didn't even think about that!! 🙂

 

[KnightDoc]

“Well that interview went fantastically, but he wore a red tie and his handshake wasn’t firm enough, I can’t trust his judgment and I certainly can’t trust his ability to hold a scalpel. Well better luck to them next year.”

that’s how I imagine the kind of ADCOM member who likes in person interviews more.

No one is a bigger advocate of virtual interviews than me, but I'm not quite so cynical. I totally get a desire to read body language and want to personally meet someone being invited into the "family," given how small and selective classes are. I also get wanting an in person opportunity to sell the institution.

That said, given the push to expand the demographics of the profession beyond the affluent, there is simply no excuse to push the significant cost of these "nice to haves" onto the applicant when there is an alternative that works, as proven over the past year. I think virtual is a "virtual" certainty this year, given how decisions need to be made very soon, no one knows for sure what's going to happen over the next few months, and schools are not going to want to have the change midstream if that becomes necessary, due to the inequities inherent in doing that.

To me, the real question is what happens after this year, when the COVID situation is no longer in flux? My hope would be that the schools realize that virtual interviews level the playing field for many. My fear is that schools revert to form and act in their own best interest because the "seller's market" does not penalize them for doing so.

 

[Zuggelder]

We'll just have to wait and see over the next few weeks.

I'm curious and excited to see the way things pan out.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

In my opinion, virtual interviews are not able to capture the social mannerisms and body behavior one would be able to detect in an in-person interview. Yes, while they are more convenient, I do not think virtual interviews are as effective as in-person interviews.

How critical is this for admissions vs residency/fellowship/attending positions? With candidates doing more and more interviews I think virtual interviews are cost effective and saves time for applicants.

 

[Zuggelder]

Fully vaccinated? You can ditch the mask, CDC says

"We have all longed for this moment," said the CDC's director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

www.nbcnews.com

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks or physically distance — whether indoors or outdoors in most circumstances."


Still feeling confident on that bet, @KnightDoc?

 

[Current-big-pharma-shill]

Fully vaccinated? You can ditch the mask, CDC says

"We have all longed for this moment," said the CDC's director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

www.nbcnews.com

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks or physically distance — whether indoors or outdoors in most circumstances."


Still feeling confident on that bet, @KnightDoc?

I know they are just trying to encourage more vaccine participation....but this is premature and will lead to a new wave among the non-vaccinated. I am sure by interview season most pre-meds will already be vaccinated, but I can’t imagine “Are you vaccinated” will be an acceptable question on secondaries.....

 

[deleted555445]

Fully vaccinated? You can ditch the mask, CDC says

"We have all longed for this moment," said the CDC's director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

www.nbcnews.com

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks or physically distance — whether indoors or outdoors in most circumstances."


Still feeling confident on that bet, @KnightDoc?

I still think its likely that everything will be virtual, even if the country fully opens up in the next two weeks and doesn't close down again. The risks of traveling in and out of a region multiple times per interview season are unlikely to be worth the gains. Schools don't know what things will look like in a few months, so they're probably just gonna take the safe bet and go virtual, especially given that all the systems are already set up.

And like I said before, I'm getting the feeling that this might be a permanent shift for some schools, given all the cost and logistic benefits of not having to travel, and then schools will offer second looks in person to gauge the culture and campus. But thats just my opinion.

 

[KnightDoc]

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks or physically distance — whether indoors or outdoors in most circumstances."


Still feeling confident on that bet, @KnightDoc?

1,000,000%