The use of virtual interviews and new trends in orthopedic surgery residency match.

This retrospective cross-sectional study sought to determine if there was a change in geographical trends in the orthopedic surgery residency match with the use of virtual interviews. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, visiting rotations at outside institutions were restricted and all residency interviews were conducted virtually for the 2021 match. Given these restrictions, it was hypothesized that applicants would match at a higher rate to their medical school-affiliated residency programs, or geographically nearby their medical school. Data was collected from residency program website and social media accounts to determine if the use of virtual interviews correlated with a decreased rate of matching at outside institutions. During the 2021 match, applicants who applied to orthopedic surgery in 2021 were more likely to match at their medical school-affiliated institution (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.18-1.80; p < 0.01) compared to applicants during previous years. However, match rates were not different in terms of geographical regions. Virtual interviews are more cost-effective for both applicants and programs, however, this study demonstrates there are associated changes with this new interview structure. The utility of virtual interviews as a standard method in the future should take this change in trend into consideration.

An Orthopaedic Virtual Clinical Clerkship for Visiting Medical Students: Early Successes and Future Implications.

OBJECTIVE: The visiting orthopaedic clerkship is viewed by both students and program directors as an important part of the orthopaedic surgery residency application process, despite being criticized as costly and inefficient. Restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented students from participating in in-person clerkships at institutions other than at their home programs, necessitating a virtual replacement for the in-person orthopaedics clerkship experience. It remains unclear how the virtual clerkships will affect the application process this year, and moving forward. We describe and review our institution's initial experience with a virtual orthopaedic clerkship. We hypothesize that students would view the virtual clerkship as valuable, and that students would see a role for such clerkships going forward. DESIGN: A virtual orthopaedic surgery clerkship was created and students were invited to enroll. Thirty-one 4th-year medical students participated. Each clerkship included 8 two-hour sessions. Each session was moderated by a faculty member, and participants included only medical students. Students presented virtual cases, which provided the basis for the discussion and education. At the conclusion of each clerkship, students were given an anonymous survey assessing various aspects of the clerkship. RESULTS: Twenty-seven students responded to the survey. Overall, 15 students rated the experience as outstanding, 11 excellent, and 1 good. Twenty-two students saw a role for virtual clerkships moving forward, and five students did not see a role moving forward. Student reported strengths of the clerkship included direct faculty interaction, structured curriculum, and student-centered discussions. Lack of hands-on experience was cited as the biggest weakness. CONCLUSIONS: Students valued the opportunity for a virtual clerkship, and most could envision a role for such virtual clerkships moving forward. We suggest that virtual clerkships may be a cost-effective and useful tool in helping both students and programs navigate the residency selection process.

Conducting orthopaedic practical examination during the Covid-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is expected to stay for a longer time, educational activities including residency training have gradually resumed with the aid of virtual tools. In addition to continuing the residency education during COVID-19, it is also important to conduct their examination so that the graduations of final year residents are not delayed. The conventional exam pattern involved clinical case presentations and required resident interaction with a number of patients. However, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic we conducted a "zero-patient contact virtual practical exit examination" for orthopaedic residents. METHODS: In order to replicate the conventional exam case-scenarios, clinical cases were prepared in a digital presentation format. The candidate used N-95 facemasks and gloves, and adequate social distancing was maintained in the examination area. We also designed a 10- item questionnaire aimed at assessing the quality and satisfaction with the exam pattern. RESULTS: The mean score for overall satisfaction with the virtual pattern was 4.5 (out of 5) in examiner group while it was 4.1 in examinee group. Higher scores were also reported for questions related to safety of the exam, relevance and quality of the virtual cases, etc. The mean total feedback score for the examiner and examinee group was 48 and 43.4 respectively (out of 50). CONCLUSION: Orthopaedic residency end-of-training examinations can be successfully conducted during the COVID pandemic, and we hope our experience will be helpful to other residency programs.