Rationale and Objectives
Residency recruitment is a critical and expensive process. A program’s Web site may improve recruitment, but little is known about how applicants use program sites or what constitutes optimal content. The importance of an interview day and interactions with a program’s residents has been described, but candidate preferences for various activities and schedules have not been widely reported. We investigated contemporary use and perceived utility of information provided on radiology program Web sites, as well as preferences for the interview day experience.
Materials and Methods
Using an anonymous cross-sectional survey, we studied 111 candidates who were interviewed between November 1, 2012 and January 19, 2013 for a diagnostic radiology residency position at our institution. Participation in this institutional review board–approved study was entirely voluntary, and no identifying information was collected. Responses were sealed and not analyzed until after the match.
Results
A total of 70 candidates returned a completed survey (63% response rate). Optimal content considered necessary for a “complete” Web site was identified. The most important factor in deciding where to apply was geographical connection to a program. “AuntMinnie” was the most popular source of program information on social media. Candidates overwhelmingly preferred one-on-one faculty interviews but had no preference between a Saturday and weekday schedule. The ideal interview experience should include a “meet and greet” with residents off campus and a personal interview with the program director. The overall “feel” or “personality” of the program was critical to a candidate’s rank order decision.
Conclusions
Our findings offer insight into what factors make programs appealing to radiology applicants. This information will be useful to medical educators engaged in career counseling and recruitment.
Residency recruitment is a critical and expensive process during which applicants compete for residency positions and programs compete for the strongest candidates in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). An online presence is known to be an important source of program information for applicants , and a program’s Web site may be the first impression a potential applicant has of a residency when deciding where to apply. Information essential for an accurate description of a structure and goals of the radiology program has not been described since brochures were the primary recruitment tool . More recent studies suggest that an easily navigated complete Web site may improve recruitment, but little is known about how applicants use program sites or what constitutes optimal content .
In competitive fields like radiology, program directors receive hundreds of applications from which they are expected to identify candidates most likely to match with their program . A large amount of subjective and objective information related to academic performance is transmitted to the program from the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), but few correlations between performance in medical school and during residency have been established . As the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) step 1 score is the only objective comparative benchmark across the entire applicant pool, most program directors consider it very important for screening applicants . The one factor that is well known to be important to both programs and applicants is geographical connection .
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Materials and methods
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Results
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Demographics
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Web Site Usage
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Table 1
Candidate Ratings of Frequency of Use of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Web Site ( n = 70)
Daily (%) 1–4 Times/Week (%) Monthly or Less (%) Never or No Response (%) For expert advice 36 26 1 37 For residency match guide 51 20 4 24 For information provided by UAMS program 43 43 6 9 For information about program on discussion board 30 29 4 37 For interview trail “gossip” 29 21 3 47 To find out interview offers 21 21 23 34 To discover interview cancellations 19 17 11 53
Table 2
Candidate Ratings of Usefulness of Content on University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Web Site ( n = 70)
Extremely Useful (%) Moderately Useful (%) Not at all Useful (%) N/A or No Response (%) For expert advice 16 41 9 34 For residency match guide 16 61 4 19 For information provided by UAMS program 36 56 0 9 For information about program on discussion board 16 37 13 34 For interview trail “gossip” 7 30 26 37 To find out interview offers 21 43 4 31 To discover interview cancellations 14 30 14 41
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Where to Apply
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Program Information
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Table 3
Candidate Ratings of Information Required for a “Complete” Residency Program Web Site ( n = 70)
Necessary (%) Desirable (%) Superfluous (%) No Response (%) Program information Description of the application process 57 30 10 3 Interview dates and itinerary 51 40 4 4 Benefits and salary 50 39 9 3 Academic schedule 50 44 1 4 Call schedule 49 46 3 3 Rotation schedule 44 49 4 3 Information regarding the interview and ranking process 40 50 7 3 Typical work hours 37 57 3 3 Vacation schedule 37 51 9 3 Descriptions of resident opportunities and experiences in various subspecialties 36 51 7 6 Complete online conference schedule 19 50 27 4 Teaching files 13 59 24 4 Electronic evaluation forms 10 47 39 4 Faculty information List of faculty 69 27 1 3 Faculty’s professional interests (research/clinical) 40 50 7 3 Faculty contact information (office, phone, email) 40 53 4 3 Faculty on the residency selection committee 33 51 9 7 Faculty’s personal interests (eg, hobbies) 9 51 37 3 Current resident information List of current residents 77 19 1 3 List of fellowships/jobs obtained by recent alumni 57 37 3 3 Current resident email addresses 36 49 11 4 Resident photo scrapbook 17 61 19 3 Contact info (eg, email) for former residents 13 54 29 4 Department/hospital information Recent/upcoming department/program changes and news 53 39 4 4 Department research interests 49 44 4 3 Online abstracts and recent publication 27 63 7 3 Hospital demographics/departmental statistics 27 59 11 3 City/community information Directions to hospital/department 66 29 1 4 Maps of UAMS campus 59 36 3 3 Maps of the city (Little Rock) 24 63 10 3 Neighborhoods where residents often live 20 71 6 3 Good places to eat 11 59 27 3 Points of interest (such as state parks, entertainment, or historical sites) 9 70 19 3 Good schools for children 9 59 30 3 Maps of broader area or state (Arkansas) 7 46 44 3 Patient/medical information Description of available clinical services 26 51 14 9 Information on common radiographic imaging methods and procedures 17 59 19 6 Scheduling/admission process 16 47 30 7 Patient education 9 54 30 7 Patient insurance information 7 44 41 7 Links Links to major radiology journals and publications 9 51 34 6 Links to major radiology societies 7 51 36 6 Links to NRMP and ERAS 3 50 40 7
ERAS, Electronic Residency Application Service; NRMP, National Residency Matching Program; UAMS, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
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Interviews
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Table 4
Candidate Ratings of Importance of Potential Interview Day Activities ( n = 70)
Necessary or Desirable (%) Interview with the program director 94 Overall “feel” or “personality” of the program 93 Informal gathering with residents off campus 93 Interviews with faculty members 93 Interviews with residents 91 Meeting the program coordinator 89 Informal gathering with residents on campus as part of interview day schedule 87 Tour of the primary radiology facilities 83 Informational slide show 83 Tour of off-campus radiology facilities (eg, VA, Children’s hospital) 66 Informal gathering with faculty off campus 50 Tour of off-service facilities (eg, emergency department, intensive care unit, etc) 47 Meeting residents’ families during informal off-campus gathering 40
VA, Veterans Administration hospital.
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Social Media
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Discussion
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Conclusions
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Glossary of Acronyms and Terms Used
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