4 Takeaways From Our Talk With Inside The Match
Our team at Acuity have been big fans of the popular residency match podcast Inside The Match, where many GME applicants gain insight about what to expect when completing the residency match process during the Transition to Residency. Recently, our Co-Founder and VP, Growth Dr. Kelly Dore sat down with podcast host and third year psychiatry resident Dr. Simone Bernstein. The result was an informative conversation between Dr. Simone and Dr. Kelly about situational judgment tests—and no question was off limits!
Below we’ve included four takeaways from Dr. Kelly and Dr. Simone’s discussion, but make sure to have a listen to the podcast episode for all things SJT.
Casper is not your typical ‘test’
Dr. Kelly made sure to address the fact that Casper is not your typical “test”, and doesn’t require hours of preparation—in fact, it’s better not to overly prepare for our SJT. Instead, simply follow our Test Prep instructions and then take some deep breaths. Applicants can also complete a free practice test, which helps them to feel prepared by knowing what to expect. Dr. Kelly explained it on the podcast by saying: “There’s no single correct answer, it’s allowing people to bring their perspectives, their backgrounds into the response so that it’s actually an authentic representation of what they would do.”
Assessments support a holistic application process
Acuity Insight Assessments supports a holistic review of applications. Our assessments allow applicants to showcase who they are outside of academic marks and tests. “We encourage programs actually to not use it as a threshold, instead we use it as an additional piece of data point, to support their process of holistic review,” says Dr. Kelly—who assures applicants that even if you’re in the bottom quartile this doesn’t mean you won’t match. It’s simply one piece of the puzzle (or data point) that supports a holistic review of your overall application.
Casper raters are trained members of the community
“Our raters, who are trained members of the community…actually know that there is no correct answer,” said Dr. Kelly on the podcast. Instead, the raters understand that one question will receive different individual responses. One person may respond with empathy to a scenario, while another may respond with collaboration—there are plenty of different ways to react and respond to a single scenario, which allows for greater authenticity in responses.
Specific GME specialities are committed to Acuity Insights Assessments
There are specific GME specialties that have committed to using Acuity Insights Assessments this year. Stay tuned, because more information will be made available about which GME programs are requiring Acuity Insights Assessments in the coming weeks. It’s also important to note that Acuity Insights Assessments is free to take this year for applicants.
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