APDS Task Force General Surgery Application and Interview

APDS Task Force General Surgery Application and Interview Recommendations

for 2024-2025 Recruitment Cycle

Applicant Considerations

• Applicants should use available data and their unique characteristics to determine the number of

submitted applications and number of interviews to accept.

• We recommend that applicants utilize their 15 signals to indicate their top fifteen programs.

• We recommend speaking to program directors at away/audition rotations and home institutions

regarding their signaling advice and their institutional guidance.

Program Considerations

• Holistic application review is strongly recommended as part of the General Surgery residency selection

process.

• Transparency relating to program values and characteristics is strongly encouraged to provide applicants

insight into the selection process as well as program use of signaling during holistic review.

• USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1 numerical scores, when available for some applicants, should still be

deemphasized in the 2024-2025 Application Cycle. Applicants and their standardized scores should be

considered within the context of a holistic review, and programs should disclose how USMLE Step 2 and

COMLEX Level 2 will be considered.

• Programs should not offer their first round of interviews prior to Wednesday October 23, 2024. The first

round of offers should be sent between Wednesday October 23, 2024, and November 1, 2024. Programs

should provide transparency to applicants if making interview offers outside of this window.

• Programs should allow a minimum of 48 hours for the candidates to respond after any interview offer

before extending an offer to a different candidate.

• We strongly recommend programs only send the number of interview invites for which they have

available interview slots and disclose expectations about interview offer response and cancellation

policy. (e.g., if a program has 20 interview slots, only 20 invitations should be released, and additional

invitations may be offered only after applicants deny or cancel their invitation.)

• We recognize that the AAMC has advocated for virtual interviews to provide equity, cost savings, and

reduced environmental impact. Nevertheless, the task force recommends that each program, in

consultation with their GMEC, identify their values and best practices when choosing an interview

format. We do emphasize that all applicants should be considered equally by the program regardless of

the interview format that is utilized.

• We recommend that interview methods adhere to the following best practices:

- equitable opportunities to all invited applicants

- uniformity of the evaluation process within the program

- transparency about the process

- mitigation strategies to prevent bias

Justification of Recommendations:

To further support the task force recommendations, here is an excerpt from the NRMP match aggreement:

6.2 Interview Period: The recruitment phase for the Main Residency Match must be transparent, grounded in

equitable practices, reflect mutual respect for the needs of applicants and programs, and minimize unnecessary

pressure. To that end, applicants and programs are bound by the terms of the applicable Match Participation

Agreement to demonstrate ethical behavior when engaging in interview offers and acceptances. During the

recruitment phase, programs shall:

1. Extend interview offers that equal, not exceed, the total number of available interview slots;

2. Provide applicants no less than 48 hours to accept or reject an interview invitation; and

3. Apply reasonable measures of notification (e.g., one-to-two weeks’ notice) when needing to cancel or

reschedule an interview.

Here is a link to the AAMC position statement regarding interviews for the 2024-2025 recruitment cycle:

Interviews in GME: Where Do We Go From Here? | AAMC

Task Force Members:

Jennifer Serfin, MD - Chair

Cary Aarons, MD, MSEd

Kareem Abdelfattah, MD

Margaret Arnold, MD

Jennifer Choi, MD

Michael Ditillo, DO

Marcie Feinman, MD, MEHP

Charles Friel, MD

William Hovron, MD

Melissa Johnson, MD

Grace Kim, MD

Daniella Kington, MD

Jennifer LaFemina, MD

Jason Lees, MD

Hugh Lindsey, MD, MS

Threshia Malcolm, MD PGY-3

Nell Maloney Patel, MD

Colleen McDermott, MD, MPH, PGY-3

Ebondo Mpinga, MD

Kari Rosenkrantz, MD

Candice Sauder, MD

Joon Shim, MD, MPH

Vance Sohn, MD

Steven Tsoraides, MD

Paul E Wise, MD