Blind interviewing technique explained
A question about interviewing on Residency Coordinator Chat listserv prompted me to write a bit about the blind interview process we use here in Buffalo. Not many programs use this technique, but it’s something worth considering.
In our program, a blind interview means that the faculty interviewer does not see the candidate’s application until after the interview. Prior to the interview, I provide faculty interviewers with only the candidate’s name, medical school, and personal statement. This way, they are not biased by the USMLE scores or who wrote their letters of recommendation. This also allows faculty interviewers to assess applicants’ communication skills. Neither the faculty nor the candidate can hide behind the application during the interview process.
The one-on-one interviews are about 15-20 minutes each. The interviewers have recommendation sheets that they complete after each interview and rate the candidates. After all the one-on-one interviews are completed, the interviewer reviews the application and supporting documentation, and gives the candidate another rating based on the file. If the faculty members have any questions about the candidate while reading the application, they have the opportunity to talk to the candidate again. In the 10 years we have been doing interviews this way, I have had this happen only twice.
During our ranking session, the first draft of our ranking list is based on the scores from both the one-on-one interviews and file reviews. I tally the one-on-one interviews and average that, then tally the file reviews and average those. Both of those averages are kept separate and are reported separately. It is amazing to see how close that original listing is from the final list that is submitted to the NRMP.
Do other programs use blind interviewing? How does your process differ? Any tips?
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Ruth Nawotniak
Ruth Nawotniak is cofounder and first president of the National Board for Certification of Training Administrators of Graduate Medical Education (TAGME).
Ruth has written 18 posts.
Comments
This is an interesting concept. I may try it with one grouping of applicants this year and see how the interviewers like it. Most use the application to tailor their questions, so it would create a whole different scenario.
Thank you for this comment. We use a blinded system since 2004- just the CV and personal statement. There is literature to support that academic grades bias the interviewer. Our faculty really like this method and find no problem with conversation.
How has the reaction of the applicants been? I remember one time when I had to use a different faculty member at the last minute for an interview and they didn’t have any time to review the applicant’s file. The applicant was offended that the faculty member didn’t know anything about them. Even went so far as to write a note to the Program Director and complain about that.
We use a similar process here at UT Texas San Antonio. Our applicants are actually interviewed in 4 different rooms – each with a different focus. One room our faculty only have the information discribed by Ruth. It gives the faculty a lot of leway in proceding with the interview and allows them to not feel tied to the ‘same’ questions already asked. Also gives the applicant a chance to ‘sell’ them selves. We do not seperate out the blind interviews when we rank at the end of the day. Each candidate is reviewed, faculty and residents offer their rank and it is worked into the master listing.
I do some prep work with new faculty that may be interviewing about the blind interview but they are mostly receptive.
We have been using this process for 3 years.
We use the “blind interview” process with our interviews. All of the teaching faculty are involved in selecting applications from ERAS. We interview two to three days a week with limited number of applicants per day. On the Friday before, everyone is given a list of applicants for the next week. The list just has the name and school. The applicants meet one on one with the teaching faculty. The teaching faculty either write or dictate their impressions of the applicants. The residents interact with the applicants over lunch or on the tour of the hospital and area. All applicants are discussed at the rank meeting. It is surprising what different people get out of an interview/ interaction with an applicant. Makes for a very interesting rank meeting sometimes!
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