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Preparing Residents for Fellowship: A Novel Mock Interview Program

Although fellowship interviews are critically important for residents to obtain competitive positions, and mock interview programs have noted benefits for medical students and other health professionals, there are few descriptions of best practices or data to guide residency programs to develop standardized, sustainable mock interview programs. This article describes a successful mock interview program in a large internal medicine residency program that can be adapted and scaled to fit any program. Abstract Objectives Although high-stakes interviews are critically important for residents to obtain competitive fellowships, few formalized programs targeting interviewing skills exist. Previous studies demonstrate that mock interviews increase medical students’ and healthcare professionals’ confidence and improve match rates, but little research has been conducted among medical residents. The objective of our study was to increase trainees’ confidence entering fellowship interviews and prepare them for commonly encountered questions via a mock interview program. Methods Emory Internal Medicine residency leaders designed a voluntary mock interview program focused on 103 residents (64% of the overall cohort) pursuing fellowship training (median 36, range 30–37/year) from 2018 to 2020. Administrative staff scheduled eight associate program director interviewers for 75 hours of interviews for 3 years (mean 3.6 hours per interviewer per year), ensuring program feasibility. Interviewers underwent faculty development and used a standardized tool with commonly asked interview questions to conduct mock interviews. Interviewers provided feedback on verbal communication, nonverbal communication, professionalism, and, given recent shifts to virtual interviews, camera readiness. We conducted resident surveys to understand their perceptions of mock interview program experiences. Results Ninety-nine residents pursuing fellowship (96%) enrolled. Fifty (51%) completed the survey (median 20, range 14–22/year); 46 (92%) reported that the mock interviews were helpful or increased their confidence for interview season. Conclusions Residents perceived that this high-fidelity mock interview program successfully prepared them at a critical career juncture. This program is feasible, sustainable, adaptable, and scalable, and may be adopted to benefit trainees in any graduate medical education program.