Introduction: The transition to virtual interviews over the past four years has been associated with changes to the ways that applicants collect information on residency programs.
Methods: Our program collected free-response data from questionnaires completed by applicants prior to their virtual interview days over the course of four recruitment cycles. We performed a descriptive analysis of these responses to identify the frequency with which students have been accessing various resources to learn about programs, and to learn how that has changed over time.
Results: Our findings over four years and 322 applicants (of 391 surveyed, response rate 82%) indicated that the three most common sources of information were individual program websites, the Emergency Medicine Resident’s Association (EMRA) Match website, and Instagram. These sources were reported more frequently than personal experience, word of mouth, and advice from mentors. Other online resources were rarely used.
Conclusion: These findings may help program leaders to direct their limited time and attention towards marketing their programs through online resources most commonly used by applicants.
Rural regions face emergency medicine (EM) physician shortages. Most training programs are located in cities and lack rural clinical experiences, didactics, and mentorship to excite and prepare residents for rural EM practice. There is limited data on optimal training methods for preparing residents for rural practice. To address this need for rural EM training and workforce, we developed a rural EM curriculum. We began with a two-year case review from critical access emergency departments. Rural EM skills were defined and taught using lectures, simulation cases, and clinical rotations. We obtained quantitative and qualitative feedback from the first ten residents participating in the curriculum. Qualitatively, 10/10 residents gained new skills and found these experiences valuable to their training and career choice, with 100% expressing interest in rural practice and 75% choosing a rural practice. Quantitatively, residents managed a greater variability in patient acuity and volume and performed a greater variety of procedures compared to their academic center rotations, all while gaining unique skills from the challenges of a rural environment. Focused rural emergency medicine clinical experience and didactic training during residency are a promising approach to bridge the gap between urban tertiary care training programs and rural emergency care needs.
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