Maternal-fetal medicine fellow experience in the first year of training compared to interview expectations based on interview modality

Abstract

Background: Virtual interviews for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) fellowship have been feasible and successful with significant cost and time savings. However, there are concerns about an applicant's ability to accurately evaluate a program virtually. The objective of this study was to evaluate MFM fellows' experience in their fellowship training program at the completion of their first year compared to their expectations of the program based on their interview, comparing fellows who interviewed in-person to those who interviewed virtually.

Methods: A novel cross-sectional online survey was distributed to all first-year MFM fellows in the final class to undergo in-person interviews (2021), as well as those who were the first to interview virtually (2022) at accredited programs in the United States. Participants were asked whether their interview experience provided an accurate representation of their program, whether their interview experience allowed them to accurately assess their "fit," how their expectation of the program prior to starting compared to their actual experience in their first year of training, and their overall satisfaction. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were performed to compare groups.

Results: We received 48 responses in 2021, (37.5% response rate) and 48 responses in 2022 (36.1% response rate). There was no difference between the in-person and virtual groups in agreement that the interview experience provided an accurate representation of the program (p = 0.41). While there was a trend toward more fellows from the in-person group strongly agreeing that their interview experience allowed them to accurately assess their "fit" with the program as compared to the virtual group, there was no significant difference in ability to assess fit between groups (p = 0.06). There was no difference in expectation of the program prior to starting compared to the actual experience in the first year of fellowship (p = 0.18) or overall satisfaction with the fellowship program (p = 0.95).

Conclusions: MFM fellows' expectations of their fellowship program matched their experience in the first year of training whether the fellow interviewed virtually or in person. These data suggest that virtual interviews are as effective as in-person interviews in providing realistic expectations of the program and thus support ongoing exclusive virtual interviews in our subspecialty.

Keywords: Fellowship; Fellowship interviews; Graduate medical education; Maternal-fetal medicine; Virtual interviews; Virtual recruitment; Web-based interviews.