Increasing Applicant Engagement During the 2020-2021 Virtual Residency Interview Cycle and Beyond: The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Radiology Residency Video Project

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

To explore the effectiveness of the video medium and YouTube platform in conveying residency program and community information to prospective applicants during the 2020-2021 virtual residency interview cycle. To garner insights on the virtual-only residency interview experience and our video-centered approach through survey data collected from interviewing candidates for potential implementation in future application cycles.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

13 custom content videos were produced highlighting our radiology residency program and uploaded onto a newly created YouTube channel and the institutional website during the late summer through fall of the 2020-2021 residency interview cycle. Feedback on the videos was generated using YouTube analytics and an anonymous 10-question survey sent to interviewing candidates.

RESULTS

As of September 29, 2021, the date when residency programs could begin reviewing ERAS applications for the 2021-2022 cycle, the videos amassed 4487 views with over 149 hours' worth of material viewed. 57 of 114 interviewed candidates responded to the survey. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive with 84% of respondents agreeing that the videos positively influenced their decision to apply to our program, 77% of respondents judging our video-based format to be overall more effective in delivering residency program information than text-based media (website, email etc.), and 86% feeling adequately informed about the program through the virtual interview process and provided electronic resources. 79% of respondents felt our videos to be more informative than the resources from other radiology programs encountered during the interviewing cycle. Finally, a majority 72% of respondents are open to virtual interviewing in the future.

CONCLUSIONS

Our program's video-centered approach was one of many creative media solutions employed by residency programs across the nation to help make virtual interviewing an adequate replacement to the traditional in-person interviewing experience. While further investigation is needed to determine which methods communicate residency program information best in the virtual setting, our initial experience and data show the video-centered approach to be overwhelmingly positive with applicants and at a minimum, we've established a baseline process and aesthetic for others to improve upon.

Multicenter, Open-Label, Phase II Study of Bendamustine and Rituximab Followed by 90-Yttrium (Y) Ibritumomab Tiuxetan for Untreated Follicular Lymphoma (Fol-BRITe)

PURPOSE

Bendamustine and rituximab (BR) has been established as a superior frontline therapy over R-CHOP in the treatment of follicular lymphoma (FL). Yttrium-90 Ibritumomab tiuxetan (⁹⁰YIT) is an effective consolidation strategy after chemotherapy induction. This prospective, single-arm, multicenter, phase II trial evaluated the response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), and tolerability of BR followed by consolidation with ⁹⁰YIT in patients with untreated FL.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The study included grade 1 to 3a FL patients aged ≥18 years, chemotherapy-naïve, and requiring treatment for stage II-IV disease. Study treatment included an initial rituximab treatment, followed by four cycles of BR. Patients were eligible for consolidation with ⁹⁰YIT, 6 to 12 weeks after BR, if they obtained at least a partial response after induction had adequate count recovery and bone marrow infiltration < 25%.

RESULTS

Thirty-nine patients were treated. Eighty-two percent had an intermediate or high-risk Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index score, and 6 of 39 (15%) were grade 3a. The response rate was 94.8%, and the complete response(CR)/CR unconfirmed (CRu) rate was 77% in the intention-to-treat analysis. The conversion rate from PR to CR/Cru after ⁹⁰YIT was 81%. After median follow-up of 45 months, the PFS was 0.71 (95% confidence interval, 0.57-0.89).

CONCLUSIONS

This report demonstrates that four cycles of BR followed by consolidation with ⁹⁰YIT achieve high response rates that are durable. In addition, consolidation with ⁹⁰YIT results in a high conversion rate of PR to CR/CRu. A short course of BR followed by ⁹⁰YIT is a safe and effective regimen for frontline treatment of FL.

The Effect of Electroencephalography Leads on Image Quality in Cerebral Perfusion SPECT and 18F-FDG PET/CT

Cerebral perfusion SPECT and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT are commonly performed diagnostic procedures for patients with epilepsy. Individuals undergoing these tests are often inpatients with electroencephalography leads. We have routinely removed these leads because of concern that they would lead to imaging artifacts. The leads would then be replaced at the conclusion of the scan. The goal of our study was to determine whether the electroencephalography leads actually do cause artifacts that can lead to erroneous scan interpretation or make the scan uninterpretable. Methods: ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT and ^99mTc-pertechnetate SPECT were performed on a 2-dimensional brain phantom. The phantom was scanned with standard leads, CT/MR-compatible leads, and no leads. The quality of the images was ranked by 3 experienced nuclear medicine physicians, who then determined whether they could differentiate each of the scans from a scan in which it was known that no leads were present. Results: No differences could be detected between scans obtained without leads and scans obtained with either set of leads. The standard electroencephalography leads did create artifacts in the CT portion of the PET/CT images, whereas the CT/MR-compatible leads did not. Conclusion: This phantom study suggests that electroencephalography leads, whether standard or CT/MR-compatible, do not need to be removed for SPECT or PET procedures. Further study evaluating the effect on actual patient scans would be of value to support this conclusion.

Functional polymeric microspheres based on 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate for immunochemical studies

Co gamma irradiation of 2-hydroxethyl methacrylate in the presence or in the absence of other acrylic monomers was found to constitute an effective technique for the synthesis of hydrophilic functional microspheres in the size range of approxumately 0.3 to 3 mu in diameter. The effect of monomer concentration, steric stabilization, and electrostatic interaction on the particle size was investigated. Experimental conditions were determined to obtain desired particle sizes of relatively narrow distribution. It was shown that particles may be formed without intermediate micelles, i.e., by homogeneous nucleation, and the rate of particle formation is affected primarily by the rate of particle coalescence in the initial stages of the reaction. When covalently bound to antibodies these microspheres were successfully used to label murine and human lymphocytes.

Application of latex microspheres in the isolation of plasma membranes. Affinity density perturbation of erythrocyte membranes

Immunolatex spheres, originally developed as visual markers for scanning electron microscopy, were employed as membrane density perturbation reagents. Methacrylate spheres were bound to antibody molecules and used to label antigens on erythrocytes. Ghosts prepared from labeled cells were subjected to isopycnic centrifugation on continuous sucrose and dextran gradients. It was found that the labeled erythrocyte membranes had a substantially higher density than unlabeled membranes. The extent to which the membrane density was shifted on a given gradient depended on the number, size and density of the latex spheres and could be closely predicted by theory. These results suggest that the reagents and techniques described here have potential application for the isolation of plasma membranes from more complex cell types.

New immunolatex spheres: visual markers of antigens on lymphocytes for scanning electron microscopy

New immunochemical reagents consisting of antibodies bound to small latex spheres were used as visual markers for the detection and localization of cell surface antigens by scanning electron microscopy. Cross-linked latex spheres of various sizes from 300 to 3,4000 A in diameter were synthesized by aqueous emulsion copolymerization of methacrylate derivatives containing hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups. Proteins and other molecules containing primary amino groups were covalently bonded to the acrylic spheres under a variety of mild conditions by the aqueous carbodiimide, cyanogen bromide, and glutaraldehyde methods. For use in the indirect immunochemical-labeling technique, goat antibodies directed against rabbit immunoglobulins were bonded to the spheres. These immunolatex reagents were shown to bind only to cells (red blood and lymphocytes) which had previously been sensitized with rabbit antibodies against cell surface antigens. Mouse spleen lymphocytes with exposed immunoglobulins on their surface (B cells) were labeled with these spheres and distinguished from unlabeled or T lymphocytes by scanning electron microscopy. The distribution of Ig receptors on lymphocytes was also studied using the spheres as visual markers. When lymphocytes were fixed with glutaraldehyde and subsequently labeled with the immunolatex reagents, a random distribution was observed by scanning electron microscopy; a patchy distribution was observed when unfixed lymphocytes were used. These results are consistent with studies using ferritin-labeled antibodies (S. De Petris and M. Raff. 1973. Nature [Lond.]. 241:257.) and support the view that Ig receptors on lymphocytes undergo translational diffusion. In addition to serving as visual markers for scanning electron microscopy, these latex spheres tagged with fluorescent or radioactive molecules have applications as highly sensitive markers for fluorescent microscopy and as reagents for quantitative studies of cell surface antigens and other receptors.