Author: Lucienne Lutfy-Clayton, MD, Baystate Medical Center, on behalf of the CORD-EM Student Advising Task Force

Puzzled by all the talk about the new video interviews in EM?

Here are the details to quell your fears.

There is a new addition to the application to Emergency Medicine this year – the AAMC is launching a Standardized Video Interview as a pilot for the emergency medicine specialty during the 2016-17 residency recruitment season. Here is the link to the webpage describing the study.

Who? – All applicants to EM will be invited to participate in research study as part of their ERAS application. Participants will receive a $50 gift card code to Amazon.com. Here is a link to the informed consent.

Why? – Program Directors wanted a better way to get to know  students as individuals, their feedback led AAMC to look for a way to assess applicants beyond their USMLE scores; similarly applicants expressed a desire to share a more holistic picture of themselves, beyond academic metrics, to add breadth and depth to their application. This is an opportunity for applicants to practice their interview skills with no risk. Here are some hints to succeed.

What? – The Standardized Video Interview is being developed as part of the AAMC’s efforts to improve the transition to residency process. The interview will  allow applicants to answer standardized questions in their own words. Each applicant will receive 6 questions with 30 seconds to read the question and 3 minutes to answer each.  Here is a link with details about what to expect.

How? – While the AMMC hopes that the Standardized Video Interview will be a valuable tool for all specialties in years to come, this is a true pilot and will be assessed as such.  Neither students nor program directors will have access to the videos or get a score. Applicants will need a video enabled device like a smart phone, laptop, or tablet.

When? – AAMC Standardized Video Interview could eventually provide an assessment of an applicants’ personal competencies that is standardized, objective, and complements the Standardized Letter of Evaluation and other academic metrics available in the ERAS application. This year is a pilot to judge the feasibility and impact. Students can choose to enroll or not enroll in the study. Program directors will not know  and will not ask if you participated.

This should not be scary. It is a pilot study only and will not be seen by Program Directors – in the future it may become opportunity for applicants to express themselves and for Program Directors to see more than data points. This is a good time for students to familiarize themselves to standard interview questions, as well as dusting off that suit, and getting in the mindset of looking for the right fit for residency. This is the AAMC’s toolkit to succeed.