Impact of COVID-19 on Radiology Residency Selection Process: A Survey of Radiology Residency Programs in the US.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Virtual residency interviews have become crucial in maintaining CDC-recommended precautionary measures throughout the ongoing COVID-era. However, scant literature exists regarding the direct impact the pandemic has had on the radiology program selection process, including preferred modalities of residency interviews and social media utilization. This survey aimed to understand how radiology programs adapted to changes in the 2020-2021 virtual application cycle. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 32-question survey was distributed to 194 residency programs between July and August of 2021. Data were analyzed primarily by using descriptive statistics and Paired Student's T-testing. RESULTS: A total of 31 programs completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 16%. When queried about the perceived success of virtual interviews during the 2020-2021 application cycle, 21 programs (68%) said the new interview format was very successful. Twenty-seven of the programs (87%) believed they were able to adequately gauge applicants through virtual interviews. However, when surveyed about personal preferences for interviews, the responses were more evenly distributed between virtual (11/31, 35%) and in-person (14/31, 45%). Pre-COVID, the top three criteria programs used to rank candidates were USMLE Step 1 score (20/31, 65%), letters of recommendation (17/31, 55%), and MSPE (12/31, 39%). Within the virtual, COVID-19 era, these criteria remained statistically unchanged (p = 0.22): USMLE Step 1 score (21/31, 68%), letters of recommendation (17/31, 55%), and MSPE (14/31, 45%). About half of programs who had not previously utilized social media (12 of 23, 52%) created accounts, mostly via Twitter or Instagram. CONCLUSION: The primary findings indicate that programs perceived success with virtually interviewing and ranking applicants, the criteria to rank applicants remain unchanged despite the virtual environment, and programs' social media utilization increased.

Electrocardiographic Features and Outcome: Correlations in 124 Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Events.

OBJECTIVES: Electrocardiographic (ECG) changes have been associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. However, the progression of ECG findings in patients with COVID-19 has not been studied. The purpose of this study was to describe ECG features at different stages of COVID-19 cardiovascular (CV) events and to examine the effects of specific ECG parameters and cardiac-related biomarkers on clinical outcomes in COVID-19. DESIGN: Retrospective, cohort study. SETTING: Major tertiary-care medical centers and community hospitals in Louisville, KY. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 124 patients with COVID-19 and CV events during hospitalization. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Twelve-lead ECG parameters, biomarkers of cardiac injuries, and clinical outcomes were analyzed with Spearman correlation coefficients and Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis of variance. Atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter was more frequent on the ECG obtained at the time of the CV event when compared with admission ECG (9.5% v 26.9%; p = 0.007). Sinus tachycardia was higher in the last available hospital ECG than the CV event ECG (37.5% v 20.4%; p = 0.031). Admission ECG-corrected QT interval was significantly associated with admission troponin levels (R = 0.52; p < 0.001). The last available hospital ECG showed nonsurvivors had longer QRS duration than survivors (114.6 v 91.2 ms; p = 0.026), and higher heart rate was associated with longer intensive care unit length of stay (Spearman ρ = 0.339; p = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: In hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and CV events, ECGs at various stages of COVID-19 hospitalization showed significantly different features with dissimilar clinical outcome correlations.