Interviewing For Residency as an LGBTQ+ Applicant: Compounded Problems With Virtual Interviewing

Adam Awe; Angela Ai

doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2021.10.005

Interviewing For Residency as an LGBTQ+ Applicant: Compounded Problems With Virtual Interviewing

J Surg Educ. 2022 Mar-Apr;79(2):279-282. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2021.10.005. Epub 2021 Oct 24.

Authors

Adam Awe¹, Angela Ai²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Electronic address: Adam.awe@unchealth.unc.edu.
² Department of Medicine, Olive View - University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.

PMID: 34706855
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2021.10.005

Abstract

Applying to and interviewing for residency positions can be challenging tasks for LGBTQ+ applicants. Resident and faculty surgeons have expressed challenges in disclosing their sexual orientation and/or gender identity throughout the recruitment process. Discrimination and lack of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the recruitment process may have been exacerbated by virtual interviews in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors describe their experiences interviewing virtually for academic general surgery programs, and academic and university-affiliated/community residency programs as LGBTQ+ applicants. Several recommendations are offered to help reduce LGBTQ+ discrimination and to help make institutions more inclusive with the overall aim of making resident recruitment more inclusive for LGBTQ+ applicants.

Keywords: LGBTQ+; inclusion; interviews; recruitment; residency; virtual interviews.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Female
Gender Identity
Humans
Internship and Residency*
Male
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Sexual and Gender Minorities*