Enhancing the residency interview process with the inclusion of standardised questions

With residency interview time on us, pressure is felt by faculty to balance clinical productivity with residency candidate interviews. Residency programme invites candidates for interviews after reviewing the candidate’s credentials. The interview day is designed to allow candidates to evaluate the programme and for the programme to evaluate candidates. Beyond credentials and reputation, both sides are seeking the elusive ‘right fit’. Candidate credentials, such as the personal statement, letter of recommendation and transcripts, are available in programmes such as Oriel in the UK or ERAS (electronic residency application service) in the USA. During the interview day, candidates may observe a typical academic conference and have lunch with residents. We have increased the number of faculty interviewers in order to decrease the time commitment per person, but this leads to decreased cohesion of the interview evaluation data. Some faculty are higher scorers and others lower, and the criteria used are not always apparent.