A Mock Residency Interview Program for Fourth Year Osteopathic Medical Students Lisa Cardello, MA , Associate Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine !
!Background!
Table 2: Pre and Post Student Self-Assessment on Interview Confidencea, RowanSOM Mock Interview Program, Fall 2015
TheresidencymockinterviewprogramwaslaunchedattheRowanUniversitySchoolofOsteopathicMedicine(RowanSOM)inFall2013.Thegoalsoftheprogramare:(1)ToprovidestudentswithanopportunitytopracFceinterviewingskillspriortoparFcipaFnginresidencyinterviewsduringtheirfourthyearand(2)Toprovidestudentswithindividualizedfeedbackabouttheirinterviewingandinterpersonalskills.ThisstudyaimedtoassesstheimpactofparFcipaFoninthisprogramonstudents’confidencelevelsregardingtheirinterviewingskills.
Approach!
InterviewersbeganeachmockinterviewsessionbyaskingstudentstoidenFfywhattheyperceivedtobethethreemostsignificantstrengthsoftheirapplicaFonand/orpersonalcharacterisFcs(i.e.,“whatsetsyouapartfromothercandidates”).Studentswerethenasked10mockinterviewquesFons.ThesequesFonswerepreparedbasedoncriFcalfeedbackobtainedfromalumniwhohadrecentlyparFcipatedintheresidencymatchprocess,aswellasDeansandstaffwithintheOfficeofGraduateMedicalEducaFonandresidencyprogramdirectors.ResourcesfromAAMCCareersinMedicine,includinglistsofcommonresidencyinterviewquesFons,werealsouFlized.8(Table1)EightquesFonswereconsistentwhiletwoquesFonsvarieddependingonthestudent,theirspecialtyofchoice,weakpointsintheirapplicaFon(suchasfailedboardexamsorcourses),orspecificquesFonsthatthestudentrequestedtopracFce.Thestudent’sanswersweretranscribedbytheinterviewer.
Followingthemockinterviewsession,theinterviewerprovidedindividualizedfeedbackonthestudent’sresponses.Specificfocuswasdevotedtodiscussingwhetherornotthestudent’sself-idenFfied“threestrengths”wereclearlycommunicatedduringtheinterview.Relevantresourcesweresharedwhenappropriate.Feedbackprovidedtostudentswasindividualized,butmaintainingsomelevelofstandardizaFonwasimportant.Therefore,interviewersassessedeachstudent’sabiliFesinseveralpredefinedareas.Theseareasarethesameareasthatstudentswereaskedtoself-assesspriortothesession.(Table2).
Results!
InFall2015,atotalof70fourth-yearstudentselectedtoparFcipateinthemockinterviewprogram,represenFngapproximatelyhalf(46%)ofstudentswhoparFcipatedinthe2016SpringMatch.Atotalof57students(81%ofparFcipants)completedthepre-surveyand43students(61%ofparFcipants)completedthepost-survey.Thirty-ninematchedpairswereincludedinthestaFsFcalanalysis.Inananalysisof39students’matchedpreandpostresponses(Table2),eachoftheeightsurveyquesFonsreflectedaposiFveimpactonstudentconfidenceininterviewingskills;therewasastaFsFcallysignificant(p≤.001)improvementinconfidenceinallareas.ThemostsizableshidswereobservedintheareasofprovidinganimpressiveintroducFonandaddressingchallengingquesFons.
Thepost-sessionsurveyincludedasecondLikertscaleconsisFngofquesFonspertainingtostudents’aftudesaboutthemockinterviewprogram.TheresponsesweregenerallyposiFve.OfthestudentswhoparFcipatedinthemockinterviewprogramandcompletedthepost-sessionsurvey,100%ofrespondentsindicatedthattheyfeltthefeedbackreceivedinthemockinterviewsessionwashelpfulandthattheywereabletoidenFfyspecificareasinwhichtheirinterviewingskillscouldbeimproved.Likewise,97.7%ofrespondents“agreed”or“stronglyagreed”thattheirinterviewskillsimprovedasaresultofparFcipaFngintheprogram.(Table3)
Table 3: Post-Session Responses, Program Evaluation Survey Questions, from Fourth-Year Medical Students Who Participated in the Mock Residency Interview Program at RowanSOM, Fall 2015
Challenges!ThemostsignificantchallengesencounteredweretheFmeandstaffingneededtoexecutetheprogram.Sessionswereintendedtobe30minutes,butinrealitymostsessionsran40-45minutes.Onmanyoccasions,studentsreceivedsomelevelofadvisingabouttheresidencyapplicaFonprocesspriortostarFngthemockinterviewitself.Inthefuture,severalquesFonswillbeaddedtothepre-sessionsurveyregardingthestudent’schosenspecialty(ies),thenumberofapplicaFons,andthenumberofinterviews.ItisanFcipatedthattheinterviewer’sabilitytoquicklyreviewandaddressthisinformaFonatthebeginningofthesessionwillsaveFme.Inreviewingpost-interviewsurveyresponses,anareawhereseveralstudentsreportedfeeling“minimallyconfident”evenaderparFcipaFnginthemockinterviewprogramrelatedtotheirabilitytotackletoughquesFonsinaninterview.InthenarraFvecommentssecFon,severalstudentssuggestedthatmore“behavioral”quesFonsbeincludedinthemockinterview(i.e.,“DescribeaFmewhenyouworkedeffecFvelyunderpressure”and“IdenFfyaFmewhenyouencounteredadifficultsituaFonandexplainhowyouhandledthissituaFon.”).SuchquesFonsareundoubtedlybecomingmorecommoninmedicalresidencyinterviews.Therefore,behavioralquesFonswillbeincorporatedinmockinterviewsessionsinthefuture.
Conclusion & Next Steps!Althoughthereareareasinwhichtheprogramcanbeexpandedandimproved,parFcipaFoninthemockinterviewprogramatRowanSOMappearstohaveaposiFveimpactonstudents’confidencelevelsregardingtheirinterviewingskills.MovingforwardweplantoconductlongitudinalassessmenttoexploretheimpactthatparFcipaFonintheprogramhasonstudents’matchoutcomes.AddiFonally,wehopetodevelopandimplementarubrictobeuFlizedbystaffmemberswhenconducFngmockinterviews.Thiswillfurtherstandardizethefeedbackprovidedtostudents,parFcularlyastheprogramexpands.Finally,wewouldliketoexpandtheprogramtoresidentspreparingfellowshipapplicaFons,aswellastoresidentsandfellowspreparingtoseekemploymentfollowingtheirtraining.
Acknowledgements:TheauthoracknowledgesandthanksPamelaBasehore,EdD,MPH,AssistantDeanforAssessment,forherstaFsFcalanalysisofthesurveydata.TheauthoralsothanksJacquelineGiacobbe,MSEd,DirectorofAcademicAffairs,andLindaBoyd,DO,SeniorAssociateDirectorforAcademicAffairs,fortheirguidanceandsupportofthisprogram.EthicsApproval:ThisstudywasdeemedInsFtuFonalReviewBoard(IRB)exemptbytheRowanUniversitySchoolofOsteopathicMedicineInternalReviewBoardinApril2016.Compe8ngInterestsandSourcesofFunding:noneContactinforma8on:LisaCardello,MA,AssociateDirector,CenterforTeachingandLearning,RowanUniversitySchoolofOsteopathicMedicine,[email protected]
THE MOCK INTERVIEW SESSION
PRE-SESSION SURVEY AND POST-SESSION SURVEY
an=39pairedresponses*p≤.001
Althoughtheprogramhasbeeninplacesince2013,pre-sessionandpost-sessionsurveyswerefirstimplementedin2015.Thesesurveysaimedtoevaluatetheprogram’simpactbydeterminingwhetherparFcipaFoninthemockinterviewprogramincreasedstudents’levelofconfidenceregardingtheirinterviewingskills.Usinganonlinesurvey,studentswereaskedtoself-assesstheirinterviewingskillsusingafive-pointLikertscalepriortoparFcipaFnginthemockinterviewsessionandagainaderparFcipaFngintheprogram.Onthepost-sessionsurvey,studentswerealsoaskedtoevaluatespecificaspectsofthemockinterviewprogramaswellasprovidenarraFvecommentsontheiroverallexperience.
Table 1: Interview Questions Asked During a Mock Interview Program at RowanSOM, Fall 2015 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. We have many good applicants. Why should we choose you? 3. What are your strengths? 4. What are your weaknesses? 5. What are your interests outside of medicine? 6. Why did you choose this specialty? 7. What are your long-term goals?/Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 8. What questions do you have about our program? 9. Student or interviewer’s choice 10. Student or interviewer’s choice
CompeFFontosecurearesidencyposiFonconFnuestointensifyeachyear.AcompeFFveresidencyapplicaFoniscrucialforallmedicalstudents,regardlessofwhichspecialtyandmatchtheyintendtopursue.InaddiFontotheERASapplicaFon,theresidencyinterviewisundeniablyoneofthemostimportantaspectsoftheMatchprocess.TheconsiderableemphasisplacedupontheresidencyinterviewbyprogramdirectorsraisesthequesFon:WhataremedicalschoolsdoingtohelppreparetheirstudentsforthiscriFcalpartoftheresidencyapplicaFonprocess?Linleliteratureexistsonthetopic,andfewresourcesareavailableontheMedEdPortalandothersites.Anecdotally,weknowthatcollegesofmedicinearetakingstepstopreparetheirstudentsforthiscriFcalcomponentoftheresidencyapplicaFonprocess.Yet,despitetheseefforts,manymedicalstudentssFllfindtheinterviewtobethemostdaunFngcomponentofthisprocess.
