Changes That May Stick
Although this year was an outlier, many physicians felt that some of the changes that were made to the Match process to accommodate the global pandemic may stay around for more than just one year.
Explore This IssueMay 2021
Dr. Pletcher called this Match an interesting natural experiment that could provide insight into the actual impact of changing to a virtual format.
Dr. Cabrera-Muffly thinks extensive website updates are here to stay. And while her preference is to return to in-person interviews, she now plans to send out info sheets to faculty and residents every year to facilitate interactions.
Dr. Gray believes virtual outreach will continue, including webinars, because the students have really seemed to enjoy it.
And, despite the stresses and challenges of interviewing applicants virtually during a pandemic, Dr. Martin said her program ended up matching with three excellent candidates who were very enthusiastic about coming to the University of Illinois in Chicago. One was a home student who had done a rotation with them, but the others had not—they had simply been impressed and excited by their interview day.
“I think it’s hard to say that virtual interviews don’t work or aren’t as good as in-person interviews when you get the results that came out of the Match this year,” Dr. Martin said. “I think a lot of the people are extremely happy with where they matched. It seems comparable to past years when everything was in person.”
Renée Bacher is a freelance medical writer based in Louisiana.