Manually Scheduling Applicants in Thalamus for OBGYN Programs 2024-2025

This guide was created to streamline the transition of returning to Thalamus for OBGYN residency programs, who are doing so after inviting/scheduling applicants to interview in the OB-GYN specific application (e.g. after the applicant has chosen/been scheduled for an interview date in the other system).

1. Transfer applicant data (CSV, application PDF and applicant photos) from the OBGYN application to Thalamus.  Specific instructions for doing so can be found here: https://customercare.thalamusgme.com/hc/en-us/articles/26919732215447-Transferring-Application-Data-Data-Application-PDFs-and-Photos-into-Thalamus-for-OBGYN-Programs-2024-2025
2. On the Program Page, set all calendar sessions to “Closed” under Calendar Settings.
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4. You will be prompted upon saving to confirm that event waitlists will automatically be disabled.  This is to prevent applicants from signing up for waitlists prior to you manually scheduling applicants.  This can be turned on later after all applicants are scheduled.
   
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6. Create all interview events on your Thalamus calendar using the Creating Interview Dates guide.
7. Confirm your calendar events are set to closed and that the waitlist is disabled. These settings should automatically be disabled when following steps 2 & 3 above.  
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9. Calendar events that are Closed with Waitlists disabled will display closed door and waitlist disabled icons:
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11. IMPORTANT: Create a custom “interview invitation” email template to inform applicants that your program will be utilizing Thalamus for interview management for the remainder of the interview season (or similar messaging) and that you will manually schedule them for the data they previously selected in the other application system.
12. • Note: There is no action needed on the applicants’ end, except to create a Thalamus account by following the link provided in the invitation message if they do not already have one.  This link is provided by the short code "invitation message" that must be included in the invite email.
    • Create a custom invite template by viewing the Managing/ Editing Automatic Email Templates guide.  Create this template under the "Interview Invitation" section.
13.  Use the Assigning Scheduling Groups on your Applicant Dashboard and Tiering Applicants on your Applicant Dashboard guides prior to sending the invite. 

Now it is time to invite and manually schedule the applicants into their already chosen date.  Continue to follow the listed steps below to complete your scheduling: 

1. To invite your applicants, use the Inviting Applicants to Interview guide.
2. Manually schedule each applicant into their chosen date by viewing the Manually Scheduling an Applicant for Interview or Waitlist guide. 
   • The applicants will receive an automatic confirmation email informing them that they were manually scheduled by the program.  You can send any additional information or messages by creating a template in the "Additional Templates" section and using the Manually Sending Email Templates (Additional Templates) guide. 

After the applicants are scheduled there are a few options your program can consider regarding applicant rescheduling and/or inviting additional applicants in the future:

Option 1: If you plan to send more invites out to applicants and allow them to schedule themselves (and/or allow currently scheduled applicants to reschedule), follow the steps below: 

1. Set your calendar event status to “Open” in Calendar Settings on the Program Page.
2. Toggle the Even Status button to Open
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4. You will also be prompted to open the wait lists with this action.  Select Confirm.
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   • Note: Waitlists can still be manually disabled by editing a specific event on the Thalamus Calendar.

Once the above steps are completed all applicants (including those previously invited/scheduled and/or those invited in the future) will now be able to self-schedule/reschedule into the interview events and/or place themselves on a waitlist as dates fill. 

Option 2: If you plan to send more invites out to applicants and want to continue to manually schedule without applicants being able to make any changes on their own, leave all events as closed with waitlists disabled and manually schedule (or reschedule) any applicants using the instructions above. 

Note: Applicants will be able to cancel themselves out of any closed events to which they are scheduled.  To prevent an applicant from self-scheduling/cancelling/rescheduling, programs should utilize lockout intervals.  See this guide for more information: Setting your “Lockout” Date.