Standardized Video Interviews Do Not Correlate to United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 and Step 2 Scores

Author(s): Egan, Daniel J.; Husain, Abbas; Bond, Michael C.; Caputo, William; Cygan, Lukasz; VanDermark, Jeff; Shoenberger, Jan M.; Li, Ida; Krauss, William; Bronner, Jonathan; White, Melissa; Chung, Arlene S.; Shah, Kaushal H.; Taylor, Todd; Silver, Matthew; Ardolic, Brahim; Weizberg, Moshe | Abstract: Introduction: In 2017, the Standardized Video Interview (SVI) was required for applicants to emergency medicine (EM). The SVI contains six questions highlighting professionalism and interpersonal communication skills. The responses were scored (6-30). As it is a new metric, no information is available on correlation between SVI scores and other application data. This study was to determine if a correlation exists between applicants’ United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and SVI scores. We hypothesized that numeric USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) scores would not correlate with the SVI score, but that performance on the Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) portion may correlate with the SVI since both test communication skills. Methods: Nine EM residency sites participated in the study with data exported from an Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS®) report. All applicants with both SVI and USMLE scores were included. We studied the correlation between SVI scores and USMLE scores. Predetermined subgroup analysis was performed based on applicants’ USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK scores as follows: (≥ 200, 201-220, 221-240, 241-260, g260). We used linear regression, the Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test for statistical analyses. Results: 1,325 applicants had both Step 1 and SVI scores available, with no correlation between the overall scores (p=0.58) and no correlation between the scores across all Step 1 score ranges, (p=0.29). Both Step 2 CK and SVI scores were available for 1,275 applicants, with no correlation between the overall scores (p=0.56) and no correlation across all ranges, (p=0.10). The USMLE Step 2 CS and SVI scores were available for 1,000 applicants. Four applicants failed the CS test without any correlation to the SVI score (p=0.08). Conclusion: We found no correlation between the scores on any portion of the USMLE and the SVI; therefore, the SVI provides new information to application screeners.