Selection processes for basic physician training are inconsistent and “evidence-sparse”, with some practices favoured by training sites suggestive of bias and even nepotism, Australian researchers say.
They anonymously surveyed 70 education directors from training sites across Australia and New Zealand in January and February last year to create a snapshot of the current practices used to select trainees.
They noted that while the RACP was responsible for overseeing the three-year training program, it was not directly involved in recruiting candidates.
Just over half (56%) of the education directors who responded to the survey were from an adult medicine training site, 16% were from a paediatric site and 28% were from a site that offered both types of training.
All but four sites reported having a formal selection process, which, for most, heavily relied on candidate interviews and character references.
Respondents had varying opinions of selection tools, with some regarding cover letters as “generic and repetitive” and impressive CVs or interviews as an unreliable predictor of the candidate’s ability to succeed in training.
There were also mixed views on the usefulness of referee reports and the way in which they were delivered, from written responses to phone calls and in-person, as well as the preferred traits of the “ideal” recruit.
An enthusiasm for and commitment to training was the most frequently cited attribute, but wasn’t mentioned in more than one-third of responses.
“There was no consensus regarding the optimal selection process or the most desirable candidate qualities. Furthermore, while there were some shared challenges, others were site-specific,” wrote Dr Anna Grosse and Associate Professor Josephine Thomas in the Internal Medicine Journal [link here].
The influence of location
The University of Adelaide researchers said some inconsistencies could be attributed to differences in trainee supply and demand between the sites, noting more “regimented selection processes may be required when competition is high”.