Preventing soft skill decay among early-career women in STEM during COVID-19: Evidence from a longitudinal intervention.

As the workforce shifts to being predominantly hybrid and remote, how can companies help employees-particularly early-career women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields-develop greater confidence in their soft skills, shown to improve organizational retention? We evaluate the effects of an online longitudinal intervention to develop soft skills among early-career women employees at a North American biotechnology company during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Controlling for baseline levels collected immediately prior to nationwide lockdowns, we find that a 6-month online intervention increased early-career women's assessments of their soft skills at work by an average of 9% (P < 0.001), compared with a decrease of about 3.5% for a matched control group (P < 0.05), resulting in an average treatment effect of nearly 13% on the treated group. Furthermore, we find evidence that the intervention led to an increase in manager-assessed performance for early-career women relative to employees not in the intervention, and that overall, increased self-assessments of soft skill competencies were associated with greater odds of retention. Results show how employee soft skill development was affected by the pandemic and provide insights for a feasible and cost-effective method to train and engage a hybrid or fully remote workforce.

Interactive learning environment as a source of critical thinking skills for college students.

BACKGROUND: The cognitive skills underlying critical thinking include analysis, interpretation, evaluation, explanation, inference, and self-regulation. The study aims to consider the possibility and effectiveness of introducing the mobile game Lumosity: Brain Training into the learning process of first-year Philology students studying at Qiqihar University. METHODS: The sample included 30 volunteers: 15 girls and 15 boys, whose average age was 18.4 years. Before the experiment start, the respondents took a pre-test based on the Critical Thinking Skills Success methodology, which was developed by the American scientist Starkey. It was stated that intensive one-month training with the use of the Lumosity premium application in the classroom would improve critical thinking skills. RESULTS: The pre-test results showed that some respondents had had quite good critical thinking skills before the experiment as the average score was 22.13 out of 30 points. The effectiveness was evaluated using the Student's t-test for paired samples. It is established that there are significant differences between standard and empirical values (p = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: The research can be of interest to those who study the issue of integrating an interactive learning environment into university and student programs, as well as those who consider critical thinking as a field of scientific knowledge and seek to develop critical thinking skills. The novelty of the study is the fact that students were allowed to use the app only during classes, but the research hypothesis was confirmed. This indicates that an interactive learning environment can be considered as a tool for developing students' critical thinking skills in the context of limited screen time.

A structured curriculum supporting biomedical trainees' transition into independent academic positions and early career success.

The United States government makes a substantial investment in biomedical training programs each year. However, for most trainees, these opportunities do not translate into career progression in academic research pathways. Only about one-fifth of postdoctoral fellows eventually secure a tenure-track faculty position, and even among these candidates, attrition is high. Although a number of factors govern career choices and career longevity, the transition from trainee to faculty is a challenging process and requires knowledge and skills that are not necessarily developed during a traditional university experience. Many postdoctoral fellows receive adequate training in research skills and scientific communication, but new faculty report not being sufficiently prepared for the job search process and for starting their labs. To address this critical training gap, the ITERT core (Interdisciplinary Translational Education and Research Training) and the Office of Postdoctoral Fellows at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center implemented a structured course for both postdoctoral fellows and senior PhD students to provide formalized training for successfully navigating academic positions in biomedical research. Here we report on the pilot Navigating Academic Careers course conducted in 2021-2022 for 30 PhD students and postdocs. The nine-module course was conducted over 13 weeks in 25.5 h instructional sessions. The key educational objectives included 1) navigating the job application and the interview/negotiation process, 2) hiring, leading, and mentoring lab personnel and program support staff, 3) project administration and financial stewardship, 4) managing time and work-life balance and 5) developing collaborations, branding, personalized niche, and networking. Survey-based analysis at the time of the course was used to capture the participants' assessment of the course content, organization, and delivery, with a follow-up survey conducted approximately 2 years post-course (2024) to evaluate longer-term impacts of the training. Initial in-course assessment revealed that 89.9% of respondents found the scope and instructional content appropriate, and 91.1% found the course relevant and applicable to their career needs. Longer-term post-course evaluation indicated that 80% of respondents applied the learnings of the course, that 80% reported feeling more confident in navigating an academic job search, and that 66.6% continued to report agreement with the course preparing them for their current role/ongoing job search, with 46.7% already securing jobs in academic research, including as independent faculty. The outcomes of this pilot course suggest that integrating this into the broader postdoctoral training curriculum can enhance both the transition and early-career success of talented scientists-in-training into working professionals in biomedical careers, as faculty and science-trained staff.

Unraveling the synergy: how organizational intelligence fuel soft skills and nurses' thriving: a cross-sectional study.

AIM: Investigate the influence of organizational intelligence on the development of soft skills and the overall thriving of nurses at Alexandria Main University Hospital in Egypt. DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive design following STROBE guidelines examined the relationship between organizational intelligence, soft skills, and nurses' thriving. METHODS AND TOOLS: Data were collected from 740 nurses working across critical care units using structured questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed organizational intelligence, soft skills, and thriving at work. Sociodemographic characteristics, including age, gender, education, and nursing experience, were also collected. Statistical analyses were used to analyze the data, including ANOVA, t-tests, Pearson correlation, and stepwise regression. RESULTS: The findings revealed nurses' positive perceptions of organizational culture and documentation skills. However, areas such as measures and rewards and staff relations and communication indicated opportunities for improvement. Nurses reported high vitality levels but needed more learning opportunities at work. Significant correlations were found between demographic variables, organizational intelligence, soft skills, and thriving. Organizational intelligence demonstrated a robust positive relationship with both soft skills and thriving. Age, gender, education, and experience significantly influenced nurses' soft skills and thriving. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the importance of organizational intelligence in enhancing nurses' professional capabilities and well-being. Addressing demographic factors and fostering a supportive work environment is crucial for optimizing nursing practice and organizational effectiveness. NURSING IMPLICATIONS: Insights from this study can inform targeted interventions and policy decisions to enhance nursing practice, organizational development, and healthcare outcomes in Egypt. Fostering organizational intelligence and soft skills among nurses can improve patient care, increase job satisfaction, and overall organizational success.

Assessing the Efficacy of a Novel Massive Open Online Soft Skills Course for South Asian Healthcare Professionals.

In healthcare professions, soft skills contribute to critical thinking, decision-making, and patient-centered care. While important to the delivery of high-quality medical care, soft skills are often underemphasized during healthcare training in low-and-middle-income countries. Despite South Asia's large population, the efficacy and viability of a digital soft skills curriculum for South Asian healthcare practitioners has not been studied to date. We hypothesized that a web-based, multilingual, soft skills course could aid the understanding and application of soft skills to improve healthcare practitioner knowledge, confidence, attitudes, and intent-to-change clinical practice.In September 2019 a needs assessment observing soft skills practices was conducted in several Indian states. We developed a communication-focused soft skills curriculum that comprised seven 10-minute video lectures, recorded in spoken English and Hindi. Participants consisted of any practicing healthcare professionals and trainees in select South Asian countries age 18 and over. Participant knowledge, confidence, attitudes, and intent-to-change clinical practice were evaluated using pre- and post-course tests and surveys. Statistical analyses were performed using STATA and SPSS.From July 26, 2021 to September 26, 2021, 5750 registered and attempted the course, 2628 unique participants completed the pre-test, and 1566 unique participants completed the post-test. Participants demonstrated small but statistically significant gains in confidence (𝑝<0.001), attitudes toward course topics relevance (𝑝<0.001), and intent-to-change clinical practice (𝑝<0.001). There was no statistically significant gain in knowledge. A digital soft-skills massive open online course for healthcare practitioners in South Asia could serve as a viable approach to improve the quality of soft skills training in low-to-middle income countries.

Measuring satisfaction with dental education among dentists and dental students in Croatia: A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: The study aimed to determine satisfaction level with the quality of education among dental students and dentists in Croatia based on the acquired knowledge and clinical and soft skills. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among 533 dentists and dental students. The questionnaire consisted of four sections with closed-ended questions. The first section included personal and professional data, whereas the second to fourth sections assessed satisfaction with learned basic dental, professional technical or clinal and interpersonal social or soft skills on a 5-point Likert scale. The data were analysed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and linear regression analysis. The significance level was set at .05. RESULTS: When comparing satisfaction scores between dentists and dental students in terms of basic dental knowledge and skills learned, students showed higher satisfaction scores for the categories of "Emergency Medical Situations" (p = .005) and "Ergonomic Principles of Work" (p = .004). Dentists, on the other hand, showed higher satisfaction for the categories "Selection and use of local anaesthetics and local antibiotics" (p = .005, p = .026; respectively). For the type of technical skills from the different areas of dentistry, dentists were most satisfied with "Oral Surgery" (4.26 ± 0.85), while students were most satisfied with "Oral Medicine" (4.29 ± 0.89). Finally, when comparing satisfaction scores with social skills, dentists had lower satisfaction scores in all categories studied (p ≤ .05). CONCLUSION: Dental students showed higher overall satisfaction than dentists. The most significant satisfaction was expressed in technical skills learned, and the most considerable dissatisfaction was recorded in the unmeasurable skills category focused on "Career management".

Scientific venturing for early-stage professionals (ESPs), a key concept in the innovation ecosystem.

Early-stage professionals (ESPs) and senior scientists who want to transition from academia to the industry need support to develop new skills and know-how to endeavor this challenge. However, this topic is significantly underserved in the field of cell and gene therapy, slowing down ESPs' potential to make this step. The authors of this article, members of the ESPs in the South and Central America Subcommittee at the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy, propose the concept of "scientific venturing," which stands for the process by which scientists become entrepreneurs or part of a company. In our article, we provide key aspects to understand this concept, considering key personality traits that need to be developed and a discussion about the "innovation ecosystem." Later, we consider how scientific venturing may result in an increase in difficulty in nascent innovation ecosystems such as Latin America, in comparison with those more advanced and mature in high-income countries. Finally, we provide key information for the ESPs and other professionals about the stages of private and public investment, including information about the resources needed for the sustainability of companies and startups. Understanding what scientific venturing involves for ESPs is key to taking advantage of the maturity of an innovation ecosystem, its network, and available opportunities.

Health professionals' experiences of rapport during telehealth encounters in community palliative care: An interpretive description study.

BACKGROUND: Despite the reported importance of rapport, there are knowledge gaps in the ways rapport is developed and experienced by health professionals during telehealth calls in palliative care. AIM: To gain an understanding about developing rapport during telehealth calls by exploring the experiences of health professionals in community palliative care. DESIGN: A qualitative Interpretive Description study was conducted with semi-structured interviews and focus groups between November 2020 and May 2021. Data was audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed using Reflexive thematic analysis. A COREQ checklist was completed. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-one palliative care professionals who had participated in telehealth calls were recruited from four hospice locations in Aotearoa, New Zealand. RESULTS: There were two themes identified: (1) 'Getting on together', which included how rapport shows up in telehealth, with examples of calls with rapport and without rapport, and (2) 'Rapport is a soft skill', which identified health professionals using body language and listening in specific ways in telehealth, while being aware of the privacy of calls, and lack of training concerns. CONCLUSION: Based on health professionals experiences of rapport it was determined that rapport is vitally important in telehealth calls, as it is in-person interactions. Rapport is a soft skill that can potentially be learned, practiced and mastery developed, although rapport in each interaction is not guaranteed. Patient and family experiences of rapport in the palliative telehealth area warrants further research and there is some urgency for health professional training in telehealth interpersonal skills.

Computer-based inquiry to enhance science process skills in undergraduate students using physiological data.

The analysis of spontaneous tail coiling (STC) in zebrafish embryos is a functional parameter that allows the study of motor development. It has recently gained relevance as a biomarker to assess the neurotoxicity of environmental substances. Its practicability in the laboratory makes it an excellent pedagogical tool for promoting students' inquiry skills. However, the time and cost of materials and facilities limit their usage in undergraduate laboratories. This study presents the design of a computer-based educational module called ZebraSTMe, which is based on a tail coiling assay and aims to improve science process skills in undergraduate students by connecting them to relevant and novel content. We evaluate students' perception of learning, the quality of materials used, and the knowledge gained. Our results show that students perceived an improvement in their statistical analysis, representation, and discussion of experimental data. Additionally, the students evaluated the quality and ease of use of the materials and provided feedback for revision. A thematic analysis of the opinions revealed that the module activities promoted students' reflection on their professional strengths and weaknesses.NEW & NOTEWORTHY ZebraSTMe is a novel computer-based educational module that utilizes spontaneous tail coiling analysis in zebrafish embryos to enhance undergraduate students' scientific inquiry skills. By addressing the challenges of time, cost, and laboratory resources, the module improves students' science process skills and promotes reflection on their professional strengths and weaknesses. The innovative ZebraSTMe exemplifies the potential of integrating cutting-edge research topics into undergraduate education, leading to more engaging and effective learning experiences in physiology and other scientific disciplines.

The effects of UPGRADE your performance on employment soft skills of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A pilot study of generalization.

Previous research has identified UPGRADE Your Performance as a method for teaching employment soft skills to students with disabilities. UPGRADE Your Performance instruction is a multicomponent intervention including self-evaluation, self-graphing, goal setting, and technology-aided instruction. This pilot study investigated the generalized effects of UPGRADE Your Performance on soft skills of secondary students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities participating in an 18-21 transition program located on a university campus. Results indicated that when students improved in two targeted soft skill areas, generalization occurred to three non-targeted soft skill areas. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are included.

Impact of using authentic online learning environments on students' perceived employability.

The digitalization and globalization of society and the corresponding impact on the rules of the labor market is shifting the education sector toward new pedagogical approaches that integrate wholly online methodologies. Sustainable Development Goal 4 advocates for inclusive and equitable quality education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities, and, as we have seen during the COVID-19 lockdown, online learning can play a key role. In a context where lifelong learning becomes crucial to maintaining graduates' employability, the innovative teaching methodologies that promote employable competencies in online environments are especially desirable. With the purpose of improving the employability of students, this article analyses the impact of introducing the Authentic Learning Scenarios (ALS) paradigm in an online environment. We develop a quasi-experimental design. Based on the nine ALS criteria and their application to e-learning, we redesign a course in a business degree program. Data from 135 students were collected, with special focus on achieving general competences. We compare the perception of the competency profile attained between a group of students who took the course before incorporating the ALS paradigm and another group that took it once it had been redesigned. Results show that redesigning the course enables students to perceive the learning process as more authentic, as well as acquiring a more advanced competence profile. Besides this, it has been shown that technology can contribute to building cognitive authenticity in virtual classrooms, without the need for face-to-face internships, which are often not a feasible option for students of online programs.

Soft Skills Are Hard Skills-A Historical Perspective.

The increasingly swift changes in the field of medicine require a reassessment of the skills necessary for the training of technically qualified doctors. Today's physicians also need to be capable of managing the complex issue of personal relationships with patients. Recent pedagogical debates have focused on so-called "soft skills", whose acquisition is presented in literature as a quite recent addition to medical studies. Moreover, the historical investigation of deontological texts dating from the mid-nineteenth century back to the Hippocratic Oath shows that medicine has always discussed the need to integrate technical expertise in medicine with specific personal and relationship-based skills. Debates have often circled around whether these "soft skills" could actually be taught or how they could be successfully transmitted to training physicians. The belief that defining medicine is more complex than defining other similar sciences and that the instruments to be used in the relationship with patients cannot be limited to those provided by technical aspects shows a new awareness. Today, this view is often stated as an innovative realization on the part of doctors with regard to the complexity of training and action in a delicate area in which they are entrusted with the management of the balance of the system that is the human body.

Professional societies can play a vital role in career development.

Ph.D.s in the life sciences are seeking nonacademic careers in large numbers, and private sector employment is reaching an all-time high. In this climate, trainees are seeking mentors and opportunities to understand and explore different career paths. Scientific societies such as the Society for Developmental Biology play vital roles in professional development to support members at all stages of their careers and promote a range of employment opportunities. To this end, the Professional Development and Education Committee of the society offers full day workshops and sessions at regional and annual meetings that support constituents throughout their careers. For example, a new GetHIRED! workshop the day before the 2019 annual society meeting was developed as an interactive job skills workshop for postdoctoral fellows to gain insights into the job application process. The committee also aims to advocate for innovative approaches to teaching and science literacy in both the classroom and through outreach activities. The activities offered by scientific societies can reach a broader audience than individual institutions, and have lasting impacts in the quality of their members' careers by augmenting professional development opportunities.

The importance of soft skills development in a hard data world: learning from interviews with healthcare leaders.

BACKGROUND: Learning healthcare systems have invested heavily in training primary care staff to provide care using patient-centered medical home models, but less is known about how to effectively lead such teams to deliver high quality care. Research is needed to better understand which healthcare leadership skills are most utilized or in need of development through additional training. METHOD: Semi-structured telephone interviews with healthcare leaders familiar with Patient-Aligned Care Teams (PACT) implementation in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We interviewed sixteen (N = 16) physician, nursing, and administrative leaders at VA facilities located in the upper Midwestern United States. Content analysis of interviews transcripts using template techniques. RESULTS: Participants described instrumental challenges that they perceived hindered leadership effectiveness, including the supervisory structure; pace of change; complexity of the clinical data infrastructure; an over-reliance on technology for communication; and gaps in available leadership training. Factors perceived as facilitating effective leadership included training in soft skills, face-to-face communication, and opportunities for formal training and mentorship. A cross-cutting theme was the importance of developing "soft skills" for effective PACT leadership. CONCLUSIONS: Although formal leadership training and development were perceived as beneficial, healthcare leaders familiar with PACT implementation in the VA described a mismatch between the skills and knowledge PACT leaders need to succeed and the training available to them. Closing this gap could improve retention of skilled and knowledgeable healthcare leaders, thereby reducing the costs associated with training and leading to improvements in healthcare delivery.

Development and validation of scale for self evaluation of soft skills in postgraduate dental students.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a soft skills questionnaire, and to use it for self-evaluation by postgraduate dentistry students. METHODS: The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at University College of Dentistry, , University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan, from February 2020 to April 2020 and comprised of residents from first to final year of training for either Masters in Dental Surgery or Fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan programmes. A soft skills questionnaire was generated and was validated through exploratory factor analysis of the elements and items of the questionnaire using SPSS 23. RESULTS: Of the 60 subjects, 37(61.7%) were MDS residents and 23(38.3%) were Fellowship residents. The mean age of the sample was 29.650±2.815 years, and 26(43.3%) subjects were males. The questionnaire was validated (p<0.001). Three domains measured the attitude of dentists, with 7 scenarios having 5 items per scenario. Both categories of trainees had high agreement in understanding and application of non-technical skills, with the exception of leadership skills. However, the difference between the groups was non-significant (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A self-generated questionnaire was successfully validated.

Gender, Soft Skills, and Patient Experience in Online Physician Reviews: A Large-Scale Text Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Online physician reviews are an important source of information for prospective patients. In addition, they represent an untapped resource for studying the effects of gender on the doctor-patient relationship. Understanding gender differences in online reviews is important because it may impact the value of those reviews to patients. Documenting gender differences in patient experience may also help to improve the doctor-patient relationship. This is the first large-scale study of physician reviews to extensively investigate gender bias in online reviews or offer recommendations for improvements to online review systems to correct for gender bias and aid patients in selecting a physician. OBJECTIVE: This study examines 154,305 reviews from across the United States for all medical specialties. Our analysis includes a qualitative and quantitative examination of review content and physician rating with regard to doctor and reviewer gender. METHODS: A total of 154,305 reviews were sampled from Google Place reviews. Reviewer and doctor gender were inferred from names. Reviews were coded for overall patient experience (negative or positive) by collapsing a 5-star scale and coded for general categories (process, positive/negative soft skills), which were further subdivided into themes. Computational text processing methods were employed to apply this codebook to the entire data set, rendering it tractable to quantitative methods. Specifically, we estimated binary regression models to examine relationships between physician rating, patient experience themes, physician gender, and reviewer gender). RESULTS: Female reviewers wrote 60% more reviews than men. Male reviewers were more likely to give negative reviews (odds ratio [OR] 1.15, 95% CI 1.10-1.19; P<.001). Reviews of female physicians were considerably more negative than those of male physicians (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.94-2.14; P<.001). Soft skills were more likely to be mentioned in the reviews written by female reviewers and about female physicians. Negative reviews of female doctors were more likely to mention candor (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.42-1.82; P<.001) and amicability (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.47-1.90; P<.001). Disrespect was associated with both female physicians (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.35-1.51; P<.001) and female reviewers (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.19-1.35; P<.001). Female patients were less likely to report disrespect from female doctors than expected from the base ORs (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.04-1.32; P=.008), but this effect overrode only the effect for female reviewers. CONCLUSIONS: This work reinforces findings in the extensive literature on gender differences and gender bias in patient-physician interaction. Its novel contribution lies in highlighting gender differences in online reviews. These reviews inform patients' choice of doctor and thus affect both patients and physicians. The evidence of gender bias documented here suggests review sites may be improved by providing information about gender differences, controlling for gender when presenting composite ratings for physicians, and helping users write less biased reviews.

Transgender medicine in primary care.

This review focuses on transgender medicine, and its importance in South Asia. It describes the various facets of transgender medicine that are relevant to primary health care providers. The authors call for greater sensitivity towards the needs of the transgender community, so that they can receive quality care at the primary level.

What makes a biostatistician?

Biostatisticians play an important role in medical research. They are co-responsible for an appropriate and efficient study design, they are involved in monitoring the study conduct, they plan and perform the data analysis, and they are involved in interpreting and publishing the results. However, how are the biostatisticians prepared for their tasks and responsibilities? Graduate programs in biostatistics are being offered, but some practicing biostatisticians completed their studies in a mathematical or epidemiological program, or obtained their degree in subject-specific fields (such as medicine or biology). Therefore, the expertise and the competencies can vary widely between the individual biostatisticians, also depending on the application field. In this article, focusing on European and US practices, we discuss the required professional expertise for the main areas of applications in the medical field as well as the necessary soft skill competencies of a biostatistician.

A study of deficiencies in teamwork skills among Jordan caregivers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the deficiencies in teamwork skills at Jordan hospitals as seen by team members. The study aims to identify training needs to improve teamwork-related soft skills of caregivers to enhance staff satisfaction and improve quality of care. Moreover, the paper provides a methodology to identify the training needs in any healthcare workplace by repeating the same questionnaire. Design/methodology/approach A self-administrated questionnaire was designed to study deficiencies in teamwork and team leadership at Jordan hospitals as seen by team members. Surveyed care providers included physicians, nursing and anesthesiologists operating in emergency departments, surgical operating rooms and intensive care units from various hospitals. Findings With a response rate of 78.8 percent, statistical analysis of collected data of opposing staff members revealed low levels of satisfaction (40.7-48 percent opposing), lack of awareness on the impact of teamwork on quality of care (15.6-22.1 percent opposing), low levels of involvement of top management (27.1-57.3 percent opposing), lack of training (52.5-69.8 percent opposing), lack of leadership skills (29.8-60 percent opposing), lack of communication (22.3-62.1 percent opposing), lack of employee involvement (37.6-50.8 percent opposing) and lack of collaboration among team members (28.6-50 percent opposing). Among the many, results illustrate the need for improving leadership skills of team leaders, improving communication and involving team members in decision making. Originality/value Several studies investigated relationships between teamwork skills and quality of care in many countries. To the authors' knowledge, no local study investigated the deficiencies of teamwork skills among Jordan caregivers and its impact on quality of care. The study provides the ground for management at Jordan hospitals and to healthcare academic departments to tailor training courses to improve teamwork skills of caregivers. Data of this study are collected from the society who is working in the field of healthcare. As the results of this are produced from a real data, it is expected that applying the recommendations will impact the society positively by enhancing the patients' satisfaction.

Application and interview features used to assess applicant qualifications for residency training.

PURPOSE: To determine what factors residency program directors (RPDs) consider and what methods they use to assess applicants. METHODS: Respondents ranked the importance of 27 applicant features within domains: academics/credentials, application features/program fit, involvement, professional experience, research/ teaching experience, and postgraduate year 1 (PGY-1) residency experience. Rank was assigned in an ordinal fashion (1 = most important feature). The domains were characterized by their importance (mean % ± SD) in selecting candidates for interviews. Participants characterized their screening process according to 8 application and 6 interview features and the corresponding applicant dimensions evaluated. RPDs rated the importance of 14 methods applicants used to communicate with the program and 3 methods by which references were obtained. A Likert scale was used for rating (4 = crucial features). The approaches the program used to evaluate 12 application features or interpersonal interactions were reported. RESULTS: The most important application domain was application features/program fit (26.28 ± 19.11). The highest ranked application feature was program fit (2.04 ± 1.17). The applicant's cover letter, recommendation letters, curriculum vitae, and interview meal were commonly used to assess communication and interpersonal skills, knowledge base, and experience. The most important communication venue was the on-site interview (3.95 ± 0.23). Recommendations solicited by RPDs (3.42 ± 0.69) were most important. Programs formally evaluated the interview (89%) and recommendation letters (84%). CONCLUSION: Understanding the importance that RPDs place on application and interview features, as well as the process used to assess communication skills and interpersonal interactions, should allow residency candidates to become more competitive residency prospects.