Commitment to Ethical, Equitable, and Transparent Recruitment

We acknowledge our current societal structures marginalize many of our patients and healthcare providers through racism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, ageism, ableism, classism, ethnocentrism, and religious oppression. These structural discriminatory practices still exist in society, and we categorically reject them.

Diversity in all forms translates into well-rounded clinicians, effective teams, and improved patient outcomes. We strive to achieve these goals by: 

• Promoting an environment of inclusivity

• Advancing our outreach, recruitment, and retention practices to ensure that our residents and faculty reflect the patients that we serve

• Providing personalized support to ensure ALL residents and faculty members are given the opportunity to thrive during training and practice

• Partnering with our institutional leaders to be a leading force for equity in the health systems and communities in which we practice. 

This is a dynamic, evolving process that will require hard, uncomfortable truths and frequent re-evaluation of our current practices. We vow to remain committed, even when faced with challenges, because we refuse to live in a world that is complacent with the status quo.

Key qualities we look for in you

We seek applicants:
• with diverse backgrounds, life experiences, and distances traveled in life that will push us to consider different viewpoints
• who are committed to excellence in patient-centered care
• that possess leadership attributes to challenge unjust systems and create a more equitable world
• who are team players who retain a positive outlook despite challenging circumstances
• who have a growth mindset and see failure or adversity as an opportunity to learn and grow 
• who are inquisitive and seek to answer questions through scholarship or appraisal of evidence 
• who have an interest in improving their skills as medical educators

How we review applications and invite you for interviews

Our team of program directors and chief residents complete the initial reviews and set the invitation list. These include:

Dr. Lauren Ashbrook

Dr. Keith Luckett

Dr. Annie Wehry

Dr. Eric Warm

Regarding USMLE/COMLEX scores, class rank, grades, honor society status, and other application items:

• We recognize that standardized tests, honor society selection, letters of recommendation, and class rankings are often biased against and may disenfranchise certain groups of medical students.
• While we do review and recognize these elements of an applicant’s dossier, we believe that many different characteristics and experiences go into making a competent, compassionate physician and therefore place value in multiple factors in our selection process
• We review all components of the application.
• We do not have a set minimum for standardized test scores, class rank, clerkship grades, or honor society status -- we look for demonstrations of the key qualities listed above
• Interviewers are blinded to standardized test scores and make decisions regarding candidates without this information 

Regarding failures in medical school:

• We try to determine the circumstances surrounding the failure, and most importantly, we seek to learn how you responded to this adversity

Our selection committee

• Each of these members undergo implicit-bias training
• The goals of the committee are to select candidates who best embody our mission, vision, and values, and who have the key qualities we seek (listed above)
• All selection committee members have input and a chance to review the final match list before it is submitted

Our interview day

• Our interview day consists of a program overview, a chat with the chiefs, noon report, interviews, and multiple opportunities to interact with fellow applicants, residents, and staff
• Categorical residents will be interviewed by the program director, and two faculty members (one of which is a selection committee member)
• Preliminary residents will be interviewed by a program director and at least one faculty member
• Physician scientists will be interviewed by the program director and multiple faculty members involved in research and scholarship
• We try to make every effort to pair applicants with similar backgrounds and interests; if we are unable to do this on interview day, we can arrange additional interviews virtually if needed
• Interviews will consist of a mix of standard behavioral-based interview questions, and questions derived from the specific items in your file
  

Composing our final rank list

• We consider input from interviewers, selection committee members, program directors, chief residents, residents, and staff
• Emphasis is placed on evidence for the key qualities listed above, codified by the following attributes:
• advocacy
• affability
• compassion
• conscientiousness
• courage
• cultural sensitivity
• curiosity
• empathy
• equanimity
• equity
• grit
• growth mindset
• holism
• humility
• open-mindedness
• resilience
• self-awareness
• teamwork