As our program gears up for this year’s national resident matching program (NRMP) specialty/fellowship match, I can’t help but speculate what the current-year applicants must be thinking. This is the process by which resident physicians are selected into subspecialty programs, such as Cardiology, Gastroenterology, and Infectious Disease.
The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly changed the way we live life on the whole in the year 2020. To be clear, the medical fellowship match is not getting special treatment; programs across the nation are in agreement – virtual interviews are the new standard. In effect, this has caused programs such as ours (UMMS-Baystate) to re-think the way we will present our three-year clinical Gastroenterology fellowship program.
To all of the applicants, I want you to know that the programs are adjusting to this novel interview technique just as you are. Programs are doing everything they can to make the process less scary for applicants. Programs may show videos of ready-to-use endoscopy rooms, equipment, hallways, and hospital rooms (sans patient identifiers). I would recommend that if there is an area that you would like to know more about (e.g. GI office, work rooms, etc), that you request photos/videos either during or immediately after the virtual interviews.
Good luck to all!
Photo by Nathan Dumlao.