Selecting Residents for Predetermined Factors Identified and Thought to be Important for Work Performance and Satisfaction: A Methodology

Postgraduate Selection in Medical Education: A Scoping Review of Current Priorities and Values

PURPOSE

The process of screening and selecting trainees for postgraduate training has evolved significantly in recent years, yet remains a daunting task. Postgraduate training directors seek ways to feasibly and defensibly select candidates, which has resulted in an explosion of literature seeking to identify root causes for the problems observed in postgraduate selection and generate viable solutions. The authors therefore conducted a scoping review to analyze the problems and priorities presented within the postgraduate selection literature to explore practical implications and present a research agenda.

METHOD

Between May 2021 and February 2022, the authors searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar for English language literature published after 2000. Articles that described postgraduate selection were eligible for inclusion. 2,273 articles were ultimately eligible for inclusion. Thematic analysis was performed on a subset of 100 articles examining priorities and problems within postgraduate selection. Articles were sampled to ensure broad thematic and geographical variation across the breadth of articles that were eligible for inclusion.

RESULTS

Five distinct perspectives or value statements were identified in the thematic analysis: (1) Using available metrics to predict performance in postgraduate training; (2) identifying the best applicants via competitive comparison; (3) seeking alignment between applicant and program in the selection process; (4) ensuring diversity, mitigation of bias, and equity in the selection process; and (5) optimizing the logistics or mechanics of the selection process.

CONCLUSIONS

This review provides insight into the framing and value statements authors use to describe postgraduate selection within the literature. The identified value statements provide a window into the assumptions and subsequent implications of viewing postgraduate selection through each of these lenses. Future research must consider the outcomes and consequences of the value statement chosen and the impact on current and future approaches to postgraduate selection.

Developing a Faculty Roles Crosswalk for Health Sciences Librarians

Many Health Sciences Librarians (HSLs) affiliated with academic health centers in the US have faculty status. Faculty status enables HSLs to collaborate with their health sciences faculty colleagues as peers. Translating HSL faculty responsibilities into terms their faculty counterparts can understand represents an ongoing challenge for HSLs. This translation process becomes crucial when HSLs with faculty status seek a promotion or wish to secure tenure. The authors used job analysis to clarify faculty roles for HSLs to create a "Crosswalk" that enables the reader to identify an HSL role and find an equivalent health sciences faculty role.

Knowledge Sharing Types as Predictors of Job Performance Mediated by Problem-Solving Self-Efficacy in the Information System Integration Service Industry

Knowledge sharing is an essential approach to creative problem solving in technology firms, but few studies have considered the information system integration service industry. To address this gap, drawing on the micro-ecology theory, we developed a research model to explore the mediating role of four types of knowledge sharing (i.e., automatic response, rational reflection, ridiculed reflection, and stolen reflection) in the relationship between problem solving self-efficacy (PSSE) and IT workers' job performance. Data were collected from 307 System Integration IT workers by using the snowball sampling method via a Google questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses of the relationships between the variables. The results showed that PSSE can positively predict four knowledge sharing types; except for stolen reflection, the others can positively predict job performance. The implication of this study is that automatic response systems and rational reflection systems in knowledge sharing can enhance job performance, supported by PSSE. It is hoped that managers can generate System Integration workers' rational reflection to effectively evoke knowledge sharing.

New Heuristics to Stratify Applicants: Predictors of General Surgery Residency Applicant Step 1 Scores

OBJECTIVE

In 2022, United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 scores will become pass/fail. This may be problematic, as residency programs heavily rely on USMLE Step 1 scores as a metric when determining interview invitations. This study aimed to assess candidate application metrics associated with USMLE Step 1 scores to offer programs new cues for stratifying applicants.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study analyzing interviewed applicants to one general surgery residency program in 2019 and 2020. Applicant data analyzed included USMLE Step 1 scores, number of publications, clerkship scores, letter of recommendation scores (out of 2, scored by 0.25 interval), interview overall score (out of 5, scored by integer level), and standardized question score (out of 10). Each year, applicant's answers to one standardized behavioral question during their interview were scored by interviewers.

SETTING

Tertiary medical center, academic general surgery residency program.

PARTICIPANTS

Interviewed applicants at one general surgery residency program whose applications contained complete demographic information (203 out of 247).

RESULTS

Multiple Linear Regression revealed that higher surgical clerkship (β = 0.19, p = 0.006) and higher standardized interview question (β = 0.32, p < 0.001) scores were positively associated with applicant USMLE Step 1 score (F[7, 195] = 6.61, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.19). Letter of recommendation score, number of peer reviewed publications, gender, race, and applicant type (preliminary/categorical) were not associated with USMLE Step 1 scores.

CONCLUSIONS

With USMLE Step 1 scores transitioning to pass/fail, surgical residency programs need new selection heuristics. Surgery clerkship scores and standardized behavioral questions answered by applicants prior to the interview could provide a holistic view of applicants and help programs better stratify candidates without USMLE Step 1 scores.