Applicant Assessment of a Hybrid Interview Format for Pediatric Surgery Fellowship

Topic overview

Key takeaways

• COVID-19 forced pediatric surgery fellowship interviews to shift from in-person to virtual formats, creating new communication challenges.
• Virtual interviews introduced technological barriers and reduced the personal connection between programs and applicants.
• The pandemic permanently altered fellowship recruitment, with hybrid models emerging as the new standard for applicant-program matching.
• Traditional in-person interviews allowed better assessment of program culture and fit compared to videoconference formats.
• Fellowship programs must now balance efficiency of virtual screening with the relationship-building benefits of in-person interactions.

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