How well will you FIT? Use of a modified MMI to assess applicants' compatibility with an emergency medicine residency program.

<p><b>PURPOSE: </b>Emergency medicine residency programs have evaluated the use of Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) for applicants. The authors developed an MMI-style method called the Fast Interview Track (FIT) to predict an applicant&#39;s &#39;fit&#39; within an individual residency program.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>Applicants meet with up to five residents and are asked one question by each. Residents score the applicant using a Likert scale from 1 to 5 on two questions: &#39;How well does the applicant think on his/her feet?&#39; and &#39;How well do you think the applicant will fit in here?&#39;. To assess how well these questions predicted a resident&#39;s &#39;fit&#39;, current residents scored fellow residents on these same questions. These scores were compared with the residents&#39; interview FIT scores. A postmatch survey of applicants who did not match at this program solicited applicants&#39; attitudes toward the FIT sessions.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Among the junior class, the correlation between interview and current scores was significant for question 1 (rho=0.5192 [p=0.03]) and question 2 (rho=0.5753 [p=0.01]). Among seniors, Spearman&#39;s rho was statistically significant for question 2, though not statistically significant for question 1. The chi-square measure of high scores (4-5) versus low scores (1-3) found a statistically significant association between interview and current scores for interns and juniors. Of the 29 responses to the postmatch survey, 16 (55%) felt FIT sessions provided a good sense of the program&#39;s personality and only 6 (21%) disagreed. Nine (31%) felt FIT sessions positively impacted our program&#39;s ranking and 11 (38%) were &#39;Neutral&#39;. Only two (7%) reported that FIT sessions negatively impacted their ranking of our program.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>FIT provided program leadership with a sense of an applicant&#39;s &#39;fit&#39; within this program. Interview day scores correlated with scores received during residency. Most applicants report a positive experience with FIT sessions. FIT provides a useful tool to recruit applicants who fit with the residency program.</p>