Perception of the Virtual Interview Format in Hand Surgery Fellowship Applicants

PURPOSE: The Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic occurred during the interview period for numerous surgical fellowships, resulting in most programs transitioning to a virtual interview format during the 2020–2021 application cycle. This study investigated modifications adopted by fellowship programs and perceptions of the virtual interview format among hand surgery fellowship applicants. METHODS: Voluntary, anonymous online surveys were emailed to all applicants to the Johns Hopkins hand surgery fellowship during the 2020–2021 interview cycle. The surveys were released after the rank order list certification deadline on May 6, 2021, and closed on May 18, 2021, before the match results were released. Descriptive statistics based on the overall cohort and primary outcome of an applicant’s willingness to recommend virtual interviews in the future were conducted. RESULTS: Thirty-four of 112 (30.4%) applicants completed their surveys. Twenty-seven (79.4%) survey respondents recommended the virtual interview format in the future and 7 (20.6%) did not. Applicants who recommended virtual interviews were similar to those who did not on the basis of the number of interviews received and taken, information provided by programs, and self-rated competency with the virtual interview format. Those who recommended virtual interviews rated the effectiveness of self-advocacy higher compared with those who did not. All respondents agreed that cost savings and scheduling were more effective with virtual interviews. Perceived weaknesses differed between the 2 groups and included the lack of physical tour, difficulty with self-advocacy, and technical difficulties. The majority of survey respondents preferred in-person interviews before the interview cycle (n = 32, 94.1%), whereas nearly half of survey respondents preferred virtual interviews after the interview cycle (n = 16, 47.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Nearly 80% of survey respondents recommended virtual interviews in the future. Major benefits included effectiveness of scheduling and cost savings. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Virtual interviews may be considered as an alternative or adjunct to in-person hand surgery fellowship interviews in the future.