The Effect of Blinded Versus Nonblinded Interviews in the Resident Selection Process

Abstract

Abstract Objective To evaluate whether resident applicants' academic performance biases the assessment of nonacademic qualities. Methods In this prospective, descriptive study, 2 blinded (personal statement only) and 1 nonblinded (application) 30-minute interviews were compared for candidates ranking into Top 10, Upper Third, Middle Thirds, Lower Third, and Do Not Rank classes. Results A total of 234 candidates were interviewed from 2005 to 2007. The association between blinded interviewers for the categories was 87%, 63%, 68%, 73%, and 90% (P  =  .0000), respectively. Comparing blinded to nonblinded interviewers showed an association of 75% (63%), 71% (86%), 68% (58%), 66% (79%), and 72.7% (82%) (P  =  .0000), respectively. A strong degree of agreement (Cohen κ, 0.75) for the 2 ranking scores resulted in 90% agreement for Top 10 and Upper Third and 85% for Middle Third and Lower Third categories. No correlation was found between United States Medical Licensing Examination scores and final ranking; moderate agreement was found between ranking and deans' letters (Cohen κ, 0.59, P  =  .0000). Conclusion Candidate rankings on nonacademic attributes were not affected by interview type.