Impact of Virtual Recruitment on Costs, Time Spent, and Applicant Perspectives Within a Family Medicine Residency Program.

Background: Virtual recruitment for all residency programs was endorsed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for the 2021 and 2022 recruitment seasons. This study assesses the impact of virtual recruitment on cost and outcome in a family medicine residency program.

Methods: We assessed program recruitment costs and interview-day time with applicants in one program for the 2019 to 2022 recruitment seasons, and we sent an anonymous survey to interviewed applicants (n=98) for the 2022 match year. In-person interviews were conducted in 2019 and 2020. Virtual interviews were conducted in 2021 and 2022.

Results: Program recruitment costs decreased from over $70,000 annually for in-person interview seasons to between $10,000 and $20,000 annually for the virtual interview years. Applicant time with the program on interview days decreased from 515 minutes when held in-person, to 345 minutes when virtual. Applicants expressed that they were generally satisfied with the virtual interview format though their preference for the virtual format was only slightly greater than for in-person interviews (38.6% and 35.1%, respectively); 26.3% of the responding applicants had no preference for either format. During virtual interview years, applicants interviewed at an average of 16.6 programs with 80% indicating that virtual interviews allowed for consideration of more programs.

Conclusion: The virtual interview format was associated with decreased interview-day costs for programs and interviewees, and decreased time on interview days for both groups. It allowed applicants to consider more programs.