What your residency interview process says about your program

Residency recruitment is a two-way street. Programs are of course assessing applicants, but applicants are also feeling out how the program fits what they’re looking for. As they navigate the interview process and interact with a program’s leaders, they’re silently gathering evidence about its culture, identity and mission.

While everyone on your staff may know what makes your program special, it’s not always clear to see from the other side of the interview table. If you don’t show your true colors in a way that resonates, you risk missing out on attracting the type of residents you’re really looking for.

Start with what makes your residency program different

Every program has different strengths and qualities that make it unique. Maybe you’re the only source of medical care in a very rural setting, or perhaps you deliver street medicine care in the city. You could specialize in OB care, or addiction medicine or connecting with underserved communities.

Whatever it is that makes your program stand out, wear it proudly. Residents are looking for a place where they can thrive, not a place where they’re just another face in the crowd. Being specific and intentional about the image you put forth means you will catch the eye of applicants who are aligned with your mission.

Make your strengths easy for applicants to find

Applicants tend to gain information through word of mouth, medical student rotations, program websites and residency profiles. These sources should all work together to paint a consistent picture. If information is generic, applicants may move on to the next program as they look for something they’re more certain of.

Leading with your strengths, meanwhile, makes it easy for a potential resident to see how they may support your mission. It’s not about developing a pristine marketing plan, but rather removing any guesswork for applicants as they explore a wide breadth of options.

Keep your residency profile and recruitment materials current

One of the most important things to do is keep your recruitment information up-to-date. Here are some things you should make sure are a current reflection of your program:

Residency Explorer​ and FREIDA​ let applicants compare programs using details from sources like the National GME Census.

Let your mission shape who you recruit

Your program’s mission should anchor your recruitment efforts. Different programs have different priorities, and you want to attract applicants who are ready to pull in the same direction. Trying appeal to everyone and generating the largest applicant pool possible is only going to dilute how well you align with applicants.

As part of the recommendations for mission-aligned review from the AAFP’s Residency Selection Improvement Initiative, we advise following a “screen-in rather than screen-out” approach. Screening out means eliminating applicants based on set criteria, while screening in means searching for applicants who check all the right boxes. Being intentional in this way will help you find like-minded individuals who are passionate about the same things as your existing staff.

Make the interview experience match the message

Attracting the right applicants is important, but interview day is the real test. When potential residents step into your residency, everything they experience will influence their decision-making process. This includes whether or not staff members seem comfortable, how they interact with each other and if they are genuinely passionate about their work. When people are happy, it will show.

Setting up a pleasant experience and giving a polished presentation isn’t enough, though. You need to provide opportunities for applicants to interact meaningfully with the program, whether that is through virtual, in-person or hybrid interviews. Facility tours, resident Q&As, didactics, open houses and other community experiences all provide a firsthand look at how things really function. Data from the American Board of Family Medicine tells us in-person opportunities are valuable, but offering robust virtual tours and resources is just as useful.

One important note: Make sure you connect applicants with the right staff members. A resident coming off a week on night float may feel too drained to be on their A-game, and that’s not the image you want to put forward. Instead, choose individuals who will be enthusiastic, excited and engaging.

Let residents and faculty show what your program is really like

Health care is a collaborative industry, so your recruitment efforts need to feature multiple faces. When I was a program director, I never made myself the only person presenting to applicants. Instead, I leaned on the amazing people around me, much like I do with the rest of my work.

If geriatric care is one of your strengths, let someone passionate about geriatric care speak. If a resident is a champion of health equity, have them explain how the program supports them. Make sure to include guardrails for the sake of time, but let them speak from a place of genuine pride. My guess is that applicants will feel that authenticity and see that your practice is a place where they can chase their dreams.

Start recruiting before interview season

By the time interview season rolls around, many applicants have already formed an impression of your program. Rotations, mentoring, shadowing and medical school partnerships give students the chance to experience program strengths earlier, then carry that story back to their peers. From there, it can spread like wildfire.

The good news is that you can take advantage of this. In fact, as I look back at my program director experience, I realize that medical student rotations led to some of our best resident fits. Students came here, were welcomed into our community and decided to stick around.

One story in particular sticks with me to this day. A third-year medical student rotated with our program with plans of pursuing neurology. Leading with our strengths, we showed them the breadth of our family medicine training. By the end of their rotation, they decided family medicine was the right path for them. They later matched with us, and before long, they had become our chief resident. There could be an applicant in your medical student pool who feels the same way—they just might not know it yet.

When recruitment problems point to a larger program issue

If recruitment, interviewing or matching remains a challenge year after year, it may be worth digging deeper than just what’s in your presentation. Applicants have a keen eye for faculty dissatisfaction, program-level challenges or a disconnect between the identity you claim and what you actually project. That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s an institutional problem, but when you’re working in the trenches, it can be easy to have blind spots.

How an RPS consultant can help you see what you’re missing

You know your program better than anyone, but that familiarity can make some patterns hard to see. An RPS consultant can offer an objective outside look at your recruitment materials, interview process, applicant selection, medical school relationships and the experiences of residents and faculty. They have a better perspective to identify practical changes and find the source of challenges that may be invisible to you during recruitment.

If applicant experiences or match results don’t reflect the program you believe you are building, an outside opinion can help you diagnose the disconnect. Explore Residency Program Solutions and schedule a free scoping call to discuss your program’s needs with the AAFP.