This is just a quick post regarding the Standardized Video Interview (SVI) that all students applying to EM were required to participate in. In June I wrote about the SVI to give applicants some perspective on how the EM Program Directors saw this project.
With the release of SVI scores to the applicants a discussion has sprung up among the Program Directors about its utility this year and in the future. This started with concerns over poor correlation between the impression an advisor had of an applicant and the score they received.
From this discussion the general consensus is that Program Directors are NOT using the SVI score to make significant decisions. They are evaluating how well it correlates with their impressions of their advisees, and later, of the applicants they interview.
This should be reassuring to all those worried that the SVI has thrown a monkey-wrench into their application plans.
Programs get your applications tomorrow. Submit everything that is in your control (PS, ERAS application, board score release) and assign letters to your programs. Then do your best to have a great weekend. You have worked hard, take a couple days off (if you can).
Adam Kellogg is an Associate Residency Director, former Clerkship Director, past-Chair of the CORD Student Advising Task Force, and incredibly grateful he didn't have to submit a video of himself answering "interview questions" to all the EM programs he applied to. And not just because that would have used up a lot of VHS tapes.
With the release of SVI scores to the applicants a discussion has sprung up among the Program Directors about its utility this year and in the future. This started with concerns over poor correlation between the impression an advisor had of an applicant and the score they received.
From this discussion the general consensus is that Program Directors are NOT using the SVI score to make significant decisions. They are evaluating how well it correlates with their impressions of their advisees, and later, of the applicants they interview.
This should be reassuring to all those worried that the SVI has thrown a monkey-wrench into their application plans.
Programs get your applications tomorrow. Submit everything that is in your control (PS, ERAS application, board score release) and assign letters to your programs. Then do your best to have a great weekend. You have worked hard, take a couple days off (if you can).
Adam Kellogg is an Associate Residency Director, former Clerkship Director, past-Chair of the CORD Student Advising Task Force, and incredibly grateful he didn't have to submit a video of himself answering "interview questions" to all the EM programs he applied to. And not just because that would have used up a lot of VHS tapes.
When you say "a discussion has sprung up among the Program Directors about its utility this year and in the future", how many program directors are we talking? Is this a representative sample?
ReplyDeleteThank you! Great Blog!
While I cannot ethically share the contents of a private list-serve discussion, I think it is fair to say that the majority of PD's are not planning to use the SVI data for screening applicants this year.
DeleteThough I don't agree with the implementation of this thing, I ended up doing really well on it. I know it can't hurt me, but is it safe to say that a high score will not help me in terms of gaining interviews then?
ReplyDeleteThat is a hard question to answer. There are probably a few programs who are going "early adopter" on this and it will help with them. That group is likely to be small. In the 5 days since I posted this the experience of those PD's I have talked with is they are not seeing a strong correlation between their impressions of students they know and the scores they received.
DeleteDr. Kellogg,
ReplyDeleteI am a USMD student with above average for matched board scores applying this cycle. I received my SVI score today and was stunned that I was well below average. Do you have an idea how PD’s are currently viewing and using the SVI with more data? I have had outstanding comments throughout the year for both professionalism and work ethic, and am really hoping this will not be a hindrance to receiving interview invites.
Thank you!
Here is a link to a blog post that really nicely sums up what we know about the SVI in 2019: https://www.cordem.org/resources/blog/
DeleteOverall, most programs are not using it as a primary selection critieria. Those who use it at all use it more as a tie-breaker among very similar candidates. There is a lot of skepticism about the tools ability to give us useful information.