Interviewing in the Modern Era: Structured, Equitable, and Meaningful Candidate Assessment
Free, Interactive Webinar
Thursday, October 8th, 2026 at 7:00PM EST
Hosted by the AASPD Council
Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Identify the core applicant attributes to assess during residency and fellowship interviews, including professionalism, resilience, specialty commitment, teamwork, and communication.
- Develop structured behavioral and situational interview questions aligned with the program’s defined values and selection criteria.
- Apply standardized scoring rubrics and behavioral anchors to improve consistency and reliability across interviewers.
- Recognize common sources of implicit and explicit bias that may influence applicant evaluation.
- Implement practical bias-mitigation strategies, including interviewer training, question standardization, independent scoring, and structured group deliberation.
- Distinguish between high-yield interview questions and questions that are low-value, inappropriate, potentially discriminatory, or unrelated to future performance.
- Incorporate interview results into a holistic selection process without allowing a single interaction or subjective impression to disproportionately influence ranking decisions.
Moderators:
Alexander Bautista, MD, MBA, FASA
Brian Allen, MD
Speakers:
Susan M Martinelli, MD, FASA, is a Professor of Anesthesiology and the Anesthesiology Residency Program Director at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. She attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin, did her residency training at the University of North Carolina, and completed a Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. Dr Martinelli is the Vice Chair for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Review Committee for Anesthesiology, a Council or at Large for the Association of University Anesthesiologists, and President Elect of the Association of Anesthesiology Core Program Directors. She was in the first cohort of ASA-SEA Distinguished Educators in Anesthesiology. Her career has centered on being a clinician-educator with a focus on research in education. One of her research interests is in innovative approaches to graduate medical education, such as the flipped classroom. Additionally, she has developed programs that utilize family and friends to improve the well-being of healthcare providers, including medical students, residents, and attending physicians. She has received grant support from the AAMC, AMA, and the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research for these efforts. She enjoys collaborating with other institutions in this work.
Kirk R. Jackson, MD, is a Cardiovascular Anesthesiologist and Assistant Dean of Admissions at Baylor College of Medicine. He graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in 2011. He completed his residency at the University of Pennsylvania and fellowship at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, TX. Clinically, he provides anesthesia care for a wide range of cardiac, thoracic, and vascular surgeries and serves as Associate Program Director for the Adult Cardiovascular Anesthesiology fellowship. Dr. Jackson enjoys mentoring and teaching the next generation of physicians and anesthesiologists.