1. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style A Novel Approach to Interviewing Resident Applicants Eric J. Silberfein, M.D., F.A.C.S. Assistant Professor of Surgery Associate Program Director General Surgery Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery

2. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Inspiration Teri Turner, MD, MPH, M.Ed.

3. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Background General surgery is a popular, competitive specialty Class rank, standardized test scores, subjective letters may not adequately predict compatibility or success Develop more strategic methods to evaluate resident candidates Faculty and residents identify attributes Develop interview approach to elucidate characteristics

4. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Description of the project Survey sent to all faculty and residents Designed interview protocol and evaluation form

5. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Description of the project Survey results  31 faculty and 31 residents responded  Tally responses of “key words or phrases” Twenty top performer characteristics  Motivated, team player, strong work ethic, efficient, reliable, humble Seventeen poor performer characteristics  Lazy, lack of knowledge, sense of entitlement, poor attitude (not willing to improve), poor communication

6. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Description of the project Survey sent to all faculty and residents Designed interview protocol and evaluation form Faculty interviewed each applicant incorporating targeted questions

7. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Targeted Questions Motivated “Describe a time where you took the initiative to act rather than waiting to be told what to do” Team player “Can you tell me a time that you were part of a team and you didn’t agree with what the rest of the team was doing?” Strong work ethic “Can you tell me a time when you were struggling to meet a commitment you had made?” Efficient “Can you describe a situation in which you had to balance competing priorities?” Reliable “Can you describe a situation in which someone else relied on you?” Humble “Can you tell me a situation in which you had to admit you were wrong?”

8. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Description of the project Survey sent to all faculty and residents Designed interview protocol and evaluation form Faculty interviewed each applicant incorporating targeted questions Evaluation form using 3-point scale rating characteristic Overall score given Candidates sorted into three groups

9. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Results 74 candidates interviewed over 3 interview dates 3-point rating scale Entire group – 2.7 (range 1.4-3) Matched – 2.9 (range 2.6-3) Overall score Entire group – 7.7 (range 2-10) Matched – 8.3 (range 7.8-9) All matched candidates fell into the “high” group

10. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Discussion Participating faculty showed overwhelming support Providing targeted questions facilitated enhanced understanding of candidate’s match for our program Success of this approach can only be measured longitudinally with periodic reassessment Approach was tailored the department’s culture and needs Other GME programs can use similar techniques to evaluate goodness-of-fit

11. Click to edit title style Click to edit subtitle style Thank you! Dr. Shubha Dathatri Dr. Brad Scott Dr. Mary Brandt Dr. Todd Rosengart Dr. Teri Turner and the Dept. of Pediatrics Residency Program