Residency
The 2020 interview season poses a lot of uncertainty for everyone. It’s rather unfortunate that applicants will not be able to see programs in person. For programs, The whole point of the interview is getting to know an applicant personally and not relying on what you see on paper. Typically, it’s the X factor during the interview that allows you to distinguish the good versus bad candidates. The playing field has leveled tremendously as applicants have figured out the formula for doing well on the CBSE. Now, the CBSE serves merely as a bar to be hurdled. Frankly, a person scoring a 70 on the CBSE and 90 will be evaluated by me equally.
The interview really levels the playing field because although it is a subjective measure it allows a candidate to be evaluated as a whole. Are they well-spoken? Can they think on their feet? Are they personable? These questions are very important for maintaining culture (which is hopefully good), and making sure that a person can communicate well with patients. Selfishly, many residents want to know that you are someone that they can spend time with. After many hours in the hospital, you want to know that you can be around somebody that you can trust and get along with day-to-day. I don’t think interviews alone allow you to see a different side of the candidates. People are generally very good at keeping a professional demeanor during an interview. However, the more informal social activities hosted by programs during interviews allow interviewers during the social setting is when it really allows you to evaluate if candidates have a concerning character traitscharacteristic. There have been countless times during the social night of an interview interviews at the social or in between interviews when something has been said or done that allows you to quickly exclude a candidate. I do not mean to say this to make applicants more nervous, but it’s true. When the pressure of being in the spotlight is off, People tend to be themselves outside the interview and that is the person you really want to see.
So how does this relate to COVID? This interview season is going to be a tough one. You are likely to see many candidates end up at their home programs. Being a known entity will work in your favor in many cases. For programs that don’t have dental schools this may end up being a difficult interview season. I have heard several strategies for meeting candidates from hosting a Townhall type event, virtual tours, and zoom socials. None of these are ideal, but it is all there is at this time. Evaluation becomes even more difficult since most candidates were unable to complete an externship. This hinders the applicant pool because a lot of experience is gained on externships. Those with more experience from prior externship seasons and non-categorical years will inevitably be more sought after. Since this is the case, I would highly recommend spending a lot of time working at your home program and having your application reflect that. It is still too early to tell exactly how interview season will go, so this article will be updated as necessary. Programs will also likely do rolling interviews instead of set certain dates, but that’s also uncertain. If there is a silver lining, it is that applicants will save a tremendous amount of money this year. Despite this, I’m sure there are many people that would gladly pay the price for things to be back to normal.
For tips regarding interview season, many of the recommendations from previous posts still hold true. Act professional, be on time, and be sincere. I would still dress in a suit even if it’s a zoom interview, and make sure that your background is professional. Your home program even may have virtual backgrounds to use, which I would encourage. An interesting aspect of doing interviews via Zoom will be that you can be aware of your body language the entire time since you can see yourself. Be aware of that and correct as necessary. Remember to understand why you are applying to a program and what you expect to get or learn from them. If possible, try to find time to speak with the residents personally about the program outside of the interview. Before doing this I would check to make sure that it is acceptable, and you will likely find out during your interview if they wish to be called. Another good method for exploring programs would be to reach out to alumni from your school that have matched. Although separated in time, I would imagine that most would be willing to talk to applicants from their alma mater. To be frank, this interview season is going to be wildly different than in years past, but I’m sure everyone will make the most out of it. I wish you the best of luck, and feel free to discuss concerns or information regarding the season in the comments section.