A Pilot Survey on the Perceptions of Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows and Program Directors on Virtual Compared with In-Person Interview Experiences

Laura Chiel; Hayley A Gans; Melissa Bales; Sarah King; Katherine Mason; Alan Schwartz; Jennifer Kesselheim; Debra Boyer

doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114019

A Pilot Survey on the Perceptions of Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows and Program Directors on Virtual Compared with In-Person Interview Experiences

J Pediatr. 2024 Mar 19:270:114019. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114019. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Laura Chiel¹, Hayley A Gans², Melissa Bales³, Sarah King⁴, Katherine Mason⁵, Alan Schwartz⁶, Jennifer Kesselheim⁷, Debra Boyer⁸

Affiliations

¹ Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
² Stanford University Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, Center for Academic Medicine, Palo Alto, CA.
³ Pediatric Subspecialty Program Coordinator, Department of Pediatric, Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN.
⁴ Director of Fellowship Programs, Department of Graduate Medical Education, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, MO.
⁵ Assistant Dean Faculty Development, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Vice Chair of Education, Department of Pediatrics, Providence, RI.
⁶ The Michael Reese Endowed Professor of Medical Education, Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL; Research Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL; Director, Association of Pediatric Program Directors Longitudinal Educational Assessment Research Network (APPD LEARN), McLean, VA.
⁷ Associate Professor and Designated Institutional Official, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
⁸ Designated Institutional Official and Chief Medical Education Officer, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH.

PMID: 38514003
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114019

Abstract

Pediatric fellowship programs have conducted virtual interviews since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In this national survey of fellowship program directors and fellows interviewed in-person and virtually, fellowship program directors and fellows formed accurate impressions, regardless of format, but our data did not clearly support one interview format over another.

Keywords: in-person interviews; pediatric subspecialty fellowship; virtual interviews.