However, knowing how many programs to initially apply to in ERAS in order to secure a safe number of interviews (and how much money to spend) could be demystified if programs published a few pieces of information including interquartile range of the USMLE step 1 and 2 board scores of their interviewees (not necessarily those who matched into the program) over the past 5 years and whether strict cutoffs exist, and what percent of each intern class is typically drawn from students who rotated in the department (i.e. home students plus students who completed “audition” electives) or from local or regional medical schools.

Here is some advice for programs regarding recruiting:

Before interview day:

1. Use online interview broker software for scheduling. What a difference it makes for students!
2. Not interested in an application? Reject it! Especially early on when students can still apply to more programs. There are programs I never heard from – and some of them were not even “competitive.”
3. Publish data about the objective characteristics of our typical interview-ees and residents. It is no badge of dishonor not to have board score cutoffs (many top programs don’t) but if you do have cutoffs, let the students know so they can save time and money.

During interview day:

1. The tour guides matter. Put your best foot forward and train the guides well.
2. Keep the Power Points and Intros under 30-45 minutes. Instead, conduct more interviews per candidate. Research shows that a higher number of interviews leads to better inter-rater reliability. This cuts in your favor.
3. Like in the ED, flow matters; don’t make candidates wait for hours with nothing to do. It reflects on departmental organization and how well incoming residents are regarded.

During the interview itself:

• Don’t “pump” students. Asking applicants medical questions reveals more about your insecurity about your residents and your program than you could possibly learn about the applicant.
• Ask “why are you interested in our program,” but please don’t actually care about the answer in most cases. Medical students apply broadly because they have to (see above).

After interview day:

1. Don’t ask students to reveal whether your program is their first choice, even indirectly. This is especially onerous when quid pro quo is implied and is actually illegal. I think it is fair to express “serious interest” in both directions and leave it at that. At day’s end, some stress is inevitable to the matching process – not the least of which is the 3.5-week wait while the computer algorithm is checked for quality. However, I think many of my suggestions would lend greater transparency at key points, minimizing the accumulation of anxiety over the entire 6-8-month process.

Lastly, program directors, if you take nothing else from this, though, I’m sure we all agree that students are looking for a place to call home. So, please don’t skimp on the food and coffee!