950. The Challenge of Fellowship Interviews During COVID-19: An Online Post-interview Survey

Background COVID-19 has significantly disrupted social and personal interactions, including fellowship recruitment. In-person interviews were replaced by virtual interviews, which created uncertainties for both programs and candidates. We distributed a survey to interviewees for fellowship programs in an effort to gather data and improve the process. Methods An anonymous online survey on the Qualtrics® platform assessed satisfaction with the interview process, evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of virtual interviews, and requested comments to improve the process. Surveys were sent out to candidates within 7 days of interview for Infectious Disease and Palliative care fellowship programs at our institution. Results Surveys were sent to 51 candidates, 24 (47%) responded; 8 (33%) from Palliative care and 16 (67%) from ID. All candidates felt that they had a good sense about the programs and enough information to make a decision for ranking. Most candidates felt that they conveyed themselves well (71%) to very well (25%) during interview except one person who did not. 63% of candidates felt that the process was seamless, although 3 (12.5%) mentioned technical difficulties during the interviews. While 79% felt that the time spent on the interview was about right, 16% of candidates felt that interviews were too long and 1 person felt that it was too short. Cost-saving was the top advantage of the virtual interview with time-saving second. Interestingly, ability to interview at more programs was not ranked as highly as an advantage. Despite these advantages, 19 of 24 (79%) of candidates would have preferred an in-person interview if it was available. Lack of personal interaction and inability to see the location were equally chosen to be the greatest disadvantages of the virtual process by most of the candidates. Conclusion Despite the challenges of the virtual interview process, our survey showed positive feedback from candidates regarding their experiences. The lack of social interaction and inability to explore the location were important, prompting 79% of candidates to prefer an in-person interview if that was an option. Many factors should be considered to ensure an equitable and comprehensive process where candidates and programs can make decisions to optimize outcomes. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Gravity process foundry simulation

In this work, they going to use a foundry simulation software to compare the virtual vs real results and try to reduce the time of the real process in the foundry area. In the real process they work with the re-engineering process of the pistons, first they take the original element and take the physical properties (length, width, thicknesses, etc.), after make a cast design and is assigned some parameters for the process, planning the process to make a test, after the casting process it goes to the machining process and finally the final inspection says if all the process during the tests is correct, if not, we need to take others parameters or casting design. With this project is going to be possible to save time in the foundry area and make a virtual process to see the result and change all the necessary things to have a perfect process.

Obstetrics and Gynecology resident perception of virtual fellowship interviews

Background: Travel restrictions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped interviewing for fellowships into a predominantly virtual process. How this impacts Obstetrics & Gynecology (OB/GYN) resident approaches to fellowship application and Match navigation is largely unknown.Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey study of fourth year OB/GYN residents who participated in at least one virtual fellowship interview in 2020. We collected information regarding demographics, application strategy, perceived strengths and weaknesses of virtual interviews, and confidence with rank list creation. Descriptive statistics were used for categorical variables and responses pre- and post- match were compared using Fisher’s exact test. Results: 75 out of an estimated 490 applicants (~15% response rate) completed the survey. 65.3% felt they interviewed at more programs virtually than they would anticipate completing in person, but perceived less confidence in having the necessary information (n=45, 60%) or understanding the culture of programs (n=59, 78.7%) to create a rank list. Cost savings were the main benefit of virtual interviews (n=50, 66.7%), and inability to get a true “feel” for a program was the biggest limitation (n=43, 57.3%). A majority (46.7%) advocate for a future hybrid interview process. Conclusions: OB/GYN residents pursuing fellowship reported interviewing at more programs during the virtual season, but had less confidence with rank list creation. Cost savings benefits are weighed against difficulty getting a “feel” for programs virtually. Most would advocate for a future hybrid interview process.

The Diagnostic Yield of the Multidisciplinary Discussion in Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia

Purpose: The hypothesis of the study was that a multidisciplinary approach involving experienced specialists in diffuse parenchymal lung disease might improve the diagnosis of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.Methods: Two pulmonologists, two radiologists, and two pathologists reviewed 27 patients affected by severe COVID-19 pneumonia as the main diagnosis made by non-pulmonologists. To evaluate whether the contribution of specialists, individually and/or in combination, might modify the original diagnosis, a three-step virtual process was planned. The whole lung examination was considered the gold standard for the final diagnosis. The probability of a correct diagnosis was calculated using a model based on generalized estimating equations. The effectiveness of a multidisciplinary diagnosis was obtained by comparing diagnoses made by experienced pulmonologists with those made by non-pulmonologists.Results: In 19% of cases, the diagnosis of COVID-19-related death was mainly incorrect. The probability of a correct diagnosis increased strikingly from an undedicated clinician to an expert specialist. Every single specialist made significantly more correct diagnoses than any non-pulmonologist. The highest level of accuracy was achieved by the combination of 3 expert specialists (p = 0.0003).Conclusion: The dynamic interaction between expert specialists may significantly improve the diagnostic confidence and management of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Multiphysics modeling and experiments of grayscale photopolymerization with application to microlens fabrication

A phenomenological model of a single-shot grayscale photopolymerization process is developed and used within a virtual process planning framework for microlens fabrication. Along with previous research, the kinetic relations describing the solidification of UV curable resin are derived based on the underlying chemical reactions involved in free radical photopolymerization. As enhancements to the state-of-the-art, our multiphysics model includes a recently proposed super-Gaussian description of the light field, as well as the photobleaching effect due to the live reduction in photoinitiator concentration during UV illumination. In addition, heat generation and thermal strains due to the exothermic chemical reactions, and chemical shrinkage due to polymerization and cross-linking of monomers are considered. The model is numerically implemented via finite element method in COMSOL Multiphysics software. Using a simulation-based virtual process planning framework, customized microlenses are fabricated with an in-house grayscale lithography experimental setup for digital micromirror device (DMD)-based volumetric additive manufacturing. Simulation and experimental results show that after the end of exposure, the temperature quickly rises by the advancement of exothermic chemical reactions and reaches a maximum rise of 100 K in a few seconds, followed by a slow cooling and recovery of thermal strains. It is observed that chemical and thermal shrinkages can compromise the dimensional accuracy of the final part near the resin-substrate interface due to the strong adhesion of the solidified part to the rigid substrate that prevents material shrinkage in the vicinity of the rigid substrate.