Using the Itinerary Wizard to build your Interview day automatically

The Thalamus Itinerary Wizard allows programs to create templates of itinerary days and to automatically pair interviewers and faculty in their interview itineraries.

In order for your program to use the Itinerary Wizard, you will need to have purchased access to it  when signing up for your account. To add the Itinerary Wizard to your account, contact sales@thalamusgme.com

Additionally, your program will need to have Applicants imported and scheduled for interview days. You will not be able to user the Itinerary Wizard without Applicants scheduled for interview. 

Please Note: The maximum number of participants in a Twilio video room (the software that powers Thalamus video chat) is fifty (50) concurrent users at a time. If you need a session, larger than this, we recommend using an alternative option for this particular video conference session (e.g. use Zoom for a large meeting, and then Thalamus for your remaining meetings).

Begin Building Itinerary Wizard

1. To find the Itinerary Wizard, select the "Interviews" tab and then "Itinerary Wizard".
2. To start building, choose your desired event date in the drop down box at the top of the screen.
3. On the intro page, scroll down to access the "Default Location". You can choose between two options:
   • Virtual Interview (Thalamus): Will generate links for the Thalamus Virtual Interview platform. 
   • Virtual Interview (Manual): If you plan to use a virtual interview platform other than Thalamus and enter links manually.
   • Virtual Interview (Zoom/Teams/Webex):  If you plan to connect a 3rd party API to Thalamus.
     • View Integrating Zoom into your Virtual Interview Day
     • View Integrating WebEx for your Virtual interview day
     • View Integrating Teams for your Virtual interview day
4. To Ignore Faculty Availability entered, click the checkbox. This will allow faculty to be scheduled even when they have marked themselves as unavailable. Visit our Setting Faculty Availability guide for instructions on setting faculty availability. 
5. Click "Create New Schedule" if this is the first time using the wizard.
6. Create your Applicant Groups (Optional)
   • Applicants can only be added into 1 group at a time, but you can schedule multiple groups into one interview session. In this example, we have created 3 Applicant groups for 3 Resident Round Table sessions. 
7. Add your Group name into the Group Name Field. 
8. In the Applicants drop down box, choose your applicants for this group. 
9. To add a new group, select the "+" sign. 
10. To delete a group, select the red "x". 
11. To Save this step, select "Save" or "Save and Continue". To skip this step, select "Skip this Step".
12. You can also auto assign your Applicants to a group. Create your group names, and before selecting any Applicants, select "Auto Assign".
13. In the auto assign module, you can exclude certain Applicants from being assigned to a group. Then select "Assign".
14. Create Outline Events allows you to designate group activities during this itinerary day (Optional). These are activities that will occur during a set time for the day and include groups of applicants. 
15. Add your Event Name. You can choose from the drop down list of existing Event Names, or Add your own. 
16. Add the Event Start time and End time. 
17. Add your Groups of Applicants. You can select all Applicant groups or choose and individual group. 
18. Add your Faculty. You can add individual faculty or groups of faculty. Be aware that this will effect your faculty members ability to schedule interviews during this time. 
19. Add the Virtual Knock time. This will only be enabled if using Thalamus Video Chat
20. To add a new event, select the "+" sign. 
21. To delete an event, select the red "x". 
22. To Save this step, select "Save" or "Save and Continue". To skip this step, select "Skip this Step".
23. The Create Interview Slots tab will allow you to identify different types of interviews, how many each applicant should have, the length of each interview and time between. These are for individual interview sessions between 1 faculty member and 1 applicant.
24. Choose the Interview Type. You can use an already created type from the drop down menu, or add a new type. 
25.  Choose the number of interviews of that type per applicant AND per interviewer in the "How Many" drop down box. If you'd like an interviewer to meet with an Applicant 1 time, enter 1 in the box. If you'd like the interviewer to meeting with an Applicant multiple times, enter the number of times in this box.
26. Choose the length of time in minutes for each interview in the "Length" drop down box.
27. Choose the amount of time between interviews in the "Time Between" drop down box.
28. Add the Virtual Knock time. This will only be enabled if using Thalamus Video Chat
29. To add a new interview slot, select the "+" sign. 
30. To delete an interview slot, select the red "x".
31. To Save this step, select "Save" or "Save and Continue". To skip this step, select "Skip this Step".
32. Faculty groups allow you to create groups of faculty that will participate in specific group events (these events will have been created in the Outline tab.)
33. Add Group name. 
34. Assign Faculty members through the drop down box or "Auto Assign". 
35. To add a new faculty group , select the "+" sign.
36. To delete a faculty group, select the red "x". 
37. To Save this step, select "Save" or "Save and Continue". To skip this step, select "Skip this Step".
38. Assign Faculty types will allow you to assign certain types of faculty to certain interview types. For Example, your Program Director can be assigned to your program director interview.
39. Add the faculty desired to each interview type (required) via the drop down box.  You can also add groups of interviewers to each interview type.
40. Auto assign faculty to each interview type if you do not want to do it manually.
41. To Save this step, select "Save" or "Save and Continue". To skip this step, select "Skip this Step".
42. Interview preferences allow you to identify preferences in Faculty and Applicant pairings. (optional)
43. Choose your Applicant from the drop down list.
44. Choose your rule:
    • "Avoid" will prevent the Applicant and Faculty from being paired.
    • Prefer" will prioritize the pairing of specific faculty and applicants. 
    • "Force" will force assign an applicant and interviewer
45. Choose your Faculty member. 
46. To add a new interview slot, select the "+" sign. 
47. To delete an interview slot, select the red "x". 
48. To Save this step, select "Save" or "Save and Continue". To skip this step, select "Skip this Step".
49. In the Itinerary Review Screen, you will be able to review the schedule before saving.
50. You will be able to review any details about missing interviews when you see a number in the "missing interviews" field. By clicking on the "missing interviews" box, you can see a list of Applicants who are missing interviews.
51. You can then return to previous tabs to adjust your itinerary to address any missing interviews. For example, you may need to adjust the amount of time per interview, or adjust the number of interviews you have per applicant.
52. At the bottom of the screen, you have 3 choices:
    • Create & Publish Itineraries: This will create the itineraries in the Itinerary builder and publish them as viewable for applicants and faculty
    • Create itineraries: This will create itineraries in the Itinerary builder but will not publish them as viewable
    • Save as template: Allows you to save a template of your interview date for use on other dates.
53. Once you have Selected to Create & Publish or Create itineraries, you will receive a confirmation screen that allows you to continue with additional wizards or view the itineraries in the itinerary builder. You can also access built itineraries by selecting the "Interviews" tab and then "Itinerary builder".