Writing Thank You Notes after Ophthalmology Residency Interviews?

Abstract

Objective: To determine the importance of writing thank you notes after ophthalmology residency interviews.
Design: Survey.
Participants: Ophthalmology residency faculty members.
Methods: A short multiple-choice survey using www.surveymonkey.com was distributed to Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) personnel who then distributed
it to their respective faculty members that are involved in interviewing and ranking applicants.
Six questions were asked to determine the importance of thank you notes after ophthalmology
residency interviews along with the option to write comments.
Main outcome measures: The impact of thank you notes in the ranking of ophthalmology applicants following interviews.
Results: Seventy five total participants took the survey during the month of March 2016. Ninety point eight percent reported thank you notes never change their ranking of applicants; 4.6%
responded yes, mostly in higher ranking; 4.6% responded yes, equally resulting in higher/
lower ranking depending on the circumstances; and 0% chose yes, mostly resulting in lower
ranking. When asked if they recommend applicants to write thank you notes: 46.7% chose no;
33.3% chose yes, only if personalized; 13.3% chose yes; and 6.7% chose yes, only if telling
the program you are ranking them #1 (and mean it). Twenty six respondents wrote comments.
Conclusions: Based on the survey responses, largely thank you notes do not impact the ranking
of ophthalmology applicants following interviews. However, many feel there is still a role for
them.