Reduction of carbon footprint is a benefit of the virtual interview

Introduction

Climate change is a global crisis. One strategy to reduce climate change is to reduce carbon footprint. In medicine, this can be done using various methods, including virtual interviews in addition or instead of in-person.

Materials and methods

We used data from the U.S. National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) and terrapass™, an online calculator, to measure the carbon footprints of residency interviews for Orthopædic Surgery.

Results

1. We estimated that travel for applicants to our medium-sized (7 residents per year) academic orthopædic residency program in 2016 emitted 112,436 lb CO2. Expanding this to the NRMP for Orthopædic Surgery, there were 727 matched applicants with a median of 12 interviews/applicant and 286 unmatched applicants with a median of 6 interviews/applicant. With an average of 2,185 lb of CO2 emitted per interview, this resulted in a total of 19,058,412 lb CO2.
2. The carbon footprint of a virtual interview ranges 6.2-19.4 lb CO2 per hour. For our academic program, a virtual process would emit at most 466.8 lb CO2.
3. Comparing the carbon footprint of in person vs virtual interviews, there is a 240- fold reduction in CO2 between the two.

Discussion and conclusion

Carbon footprint provides support for the addition of a virtual format to the medical training process. The virtual interview may serve as a substitute or a compliment to the traditional in-person format, which has a significantly greater carbon footprint. This approach will reduce significantly the environmental impact of the residency interviews, a recognition and thought process that will align medical postgraduate education with a growing wave of organizations and industries worldwide.