title: Orthopedic Surgery Applicants: What They Want in an Interview and How They Are Influenced by Post-Interview Contact.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Common strategies for orthopedic residency programs to attract competitive applicants include optimizing the interview day and contacting favorably ranked applicants postinterview. The purpose of this work was to determine (1) applicants' perspectives on the ideal interview day, (2) how frequently applicants are contacted postinterview, and (3) the influence of this contact on rank order lists (ROL).
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective Comparative Survey
  
  
  METHODS
  Mayo Clinic Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rochester, MN, USA PARTICIPANTS: A survey was completed by 312 successfully matched orthopedic surgery residency applicants following the 2015 match regarding their views of the ideal interview day, components they valued most, post-interview contact, and how that contact influenced their ROL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Applicants stated they preferred interviews that lasted 15 (55%) minutes, a mean of 1.7 (range: 1-5) interviewers present per interview, 5 total interviews (range: 1-10) in a day, an interview with residents (96%), and interviews days lasting only a half day (88%). The majority (94%) desire a social event attended by only residents (54%) or staff and residents (46%). Few wanted an assessment of surgical skills (36%) or orthopedic knowledge (23%). The interview day was rated very valuable in determining their ROL (4.4 out of 5.0). Applicants told a mean of 1.7 (range: 0-11) programs they were "ranking the program highly" and 0.8 (range: 0-5) programs they were "going to rank them #1." Of the 116 (40%) applicants contacted by programs following interviews, 24 (21%) moved programs higher and 3 (3%) moved programs lower on their ROL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Orthopedic Surgery applicants have clear preferences for what they consider to be the ideal interview day and many alter their ROL following post-interview contact. These data may be beneficial to programs looking to optimize the interview experience for applicants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Electronic address: camp.christopher@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Camp
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Paul L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Arlen D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Hanssen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa.
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Karam
authors.affiliation: Orthopedics, Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando, Florida.
authors.forename: George J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Haidukewych
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Oakes
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Norman S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000193:education*; D010560:Personnel Selection; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012570:School Admission Criteria
keywords: Interpersonal and Communication Skills; Professionalism; Systems-Based Practice; cost; medical students; orthopedic surgery; residency application