Professionalism and the match: a pediatric residency program's postinterview no-call policy and its impact on applicants.

OBJECTIVE: The National Residency Matching Program allows match participants to recruit each other and try to influence future ranking decisions in their favor, but it also states that participants "must not make statements implying commitment." The National Residency Matching Program cautions against statements such as, "We plan to rank you very highly on our list," because they can be misinterpreted as an informal commitment. To avoid issues around miscommunication, the University of Washington Pediatric Residency Program instituted a postinterview no-call policy with applicants. The purpose of this study was to determine this policy's impact on applicants. METHODS: A Web-based, anonymous survey was sent after the National Residency Matching Program deadline for submitting rank lists but before match day to applicants who interviewed at our program from 2003 to 2006. Applicants were asked whether our program's position on their rank list would have been influenced more favorably, less favorably, or not at all had they received a telephone call from our program. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 53% (n = 468). A total of 10.3% (n = 48) of the applicants to our program would have been favorably influenced by a telephone call after their interview. Significantly more applicants reported that a recruiting call from our program would have caused them to rank our program more favorably in 2006 (17.2%) than in 2003-2005 combined (8.4%). CONCLUSIONS: We identified a vulnerable applicant population whose rank lists are potentially influenced by questionable postinterview communication from residency programs. To protect the integrity and fairness of the match, we call for more explicit guidelines regarding postinterview communication with applicants.

The impact of the interview in pediatric residency selection.

OBJECTIVE: To better understand the impact of USMLE scores and interview scores on the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) rank of applicants to the residency program at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. METHODOLOGY: We evaluated 935 applicants' files from 2000, 2001, and 2002. For each candidate, one interviewer had access to the full application, while the other interviewer was blinded to USMLE scores and grades. Interview scores were generated by both interviewers. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate relationships between USMLE scores, interview scores, and NRMP rank list number. RESULTS: There were a wide range of USMLE scores among candidates who interviewed (range 181 to 269, 227.7 +/- 17.1, M +/- standard deviation). USMLE scores were weakly correlated to nonblinded interview scores (r = -0.17), final committee scores (r = -0.26), and NRMP ranking (r = -0.21): P < .0005. Blinded interviews did not correlate with USMLE scores. Both nonblinded and blinded interviews had stronger correlations with NRMP rank list number (r = 0.49, P < .0005 and r = 0.36, P < .0005, respectively). The nonblinded interview accounted for 20.6% of variance in the NRMP rank list order. CONCLUSIONS: Interview scores were the most important variable for candidate ranking on the NRMP list. Furthermore, when interviewers had access to board scores, there was a modest correlation to performance on the USMLE. While interviews may reflect a candidate's personality, they may not effectively measure desired characteristics when access to academic markers is unrestricted. We suggest incorporating blinded interviews into the selection process to give candidates a better opportunity to display communication skills, emotional stability, and "fit" for the program.