Medical Student Advising During Virtual Residency Recruitment: Results of a National Survey of Internal Medicine Clerkship and Sub-Internship Directors

Authors

Irene Alexandraki
Nadia Ismail
Cindy J Lai
Nicholas S Duca
Temple Ratcliffe
Michael Kisielewski
Amber T Pincavage

Publication Date

12-28-2023

Journal

Medical Education Online

DOI

10.1080/10872981.2022.2143926

PMID

36351170

PMCID

PMC9662014

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

11-9-2022

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Humans, Students, Medical, Internship and Residency, Clinical Clerkship, Pandemics, COVID-19, Surveys and Questionnaires, Medical student advising, clerkship, clerkship directors, sub-internship directors, residency interviews, residency application, virtual residency recruitment

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The residency application process is a critical time for medical students. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted changes to the residency recruitment procedures with the conversion of interviews to a virtual format. For medical school advisors guiding students on an all-virtual residency application process brought uncertainty to their advising practices. Thus, this study aimed to identify advising practices during the 2021 virtual application cycle.

METHODS: We administered an IRB-exempt national survey through the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine to 186 internal medicine core/co-/associate/assistant clerkship directors and sub-internship directors representing 140 Liaison Committee on Medical Education-accredited U.S./U.S.-territory-based medical schools in spring 2021. The 23-question survey was designed and pilot-tested by faculty-educators and leaders with expertise in undergraduate medical education. Data analysis included paired t- and z-tests and thematic analysis of open-ended questions.

RESULTS: The institutional response rate was 67% (93/140) and individual rate 55% (103/186). Half of the respondents felt prepared/very prepared (40% and 13% respectively) for their advising roles. Compared to pre-pandemic cycles, respondents advised a typical student in the middle-third of their class at their institution to apply to more residency programs (mean 24 programs vs 20,

CONCLUSION: The transition to virtual residency recruitment due to COVID-19 prompted advising practices that may have contributed to application inflation and increased advising workload. Future studies should explore longitudinal outcomes of virtual interviews on student success to guide best practices in how to advise students during residency recruitment.

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