Abstract
Purpose :
For several medical specialties, there is published information about factors which guide residency program directors (PDs) in their decision to invite applicants to interview and in their ranking of applicants. For medical students applying for ophthalmology residency, however, there is no such information in the literature. The purpose of the current study is to investigate factors impacting ophthalmology residency PDs’ decision to invite residency applicants to interview and factors impacting ranking of applicants.
Methods :
An anonymous survey was created using RedCAP electronic data capture tools and was sent to the PD of each ophthalmology residency program in the United States accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The survey asked participants to assign an importance rating (IR) with respect to applicant selection on a scale of 1-5 (1 being un-important and 5 being very important) to each of several applicant factors (AF). The list of AFs was created using a standard ophthalmology residency application, and by referencing published literature. The average IR was recorded for each AF included in the study.
Results :
The five highest rated AFs, followed by the average IR, with respect to inviting applicants for interview, were: USMLE Step 1/COMLEX Level 1 score (4.67), visa status (4.67), letters of recommendation in the specialty (4.56), evidence of professionalism and ethics (4.56), graduate of a United States (US) allopathic medical school (4.44). The five highest rated AFs, followed by the average IR, with respect to ranking applicants, were: interpersonal skills (4.89), visa status (4.89), feedback from current residents (4.78), interaction with faculty during interview (4.56), evidence of professionalism and ethics (4.56).
Conclusions :
Standardized test scores, letters of recommendation in the specialty, and being a graduate of a US allopathic medical school are among the most important factors identified by PDs in their decision to invite a candidate to interview. Interpersonal skills and interactions with residents and faculty members are among the most important factors identified by PDs in their decision to rank a candidate. Visa status and evidence of professionalism and ethics were identified as important in both the decision to interview and rank applicants.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.