The utility of social media in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) residency programs has never been investigated, despite the increasing popularity of such platforms in academic medicine. As a specialty that strives for constant innovation, it is important for OMS programs to participate in the emerging concept of incorporating social media into medical and surgical education. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the use of Instagram in OMS residency programs in the United States. Methods: A cross-sectional study of Instagram search data was performed. The Instagram accounts of OMS residency programs were searched, and their metrics were retrieved from June 1 to June 5, 2020. Factors correlated with the total number of followers were identified. The use of Instagram in OMS residency programs was compared with that in other related dental and surgical residency programs. Results: Only 17 (18.7%) of 91 OMS residency programs had an Instagram account. The number of programs with Instagram accounts exhibited linear growth (R 2 = 0.98) since December 2018. The median number of followers was 326 (range, 94 to 2,152), and the median number of posts was 9 (range, 2 to 40). The number of Instagram followers was positively correlated with the number of accounts followed, the number of total posts, and the number of educational posts, and it was negatively correlated with the Instagram engagement rate. Instagram presence did not differ among residency programs for orthodontics (18.2%), periodontics (5.5%), and OMS (P = .067). However, Instagram presence in OMS residency programs was significantly lower than that in plastic surgery (74.7%; P < .001) and otolaryngology residency programs (35.0%; P = .011). Conclusions: Instagram use in OMS residency programs is growing but is significantly lower than that in related surgical fields. This may represent a missed opportunity for promoting collaboration and efficiently delivering useful information to trainees.

Increasing public awareness of head and neck cancer prevention with HPV vaccination could increase HPV vaccination acceptance.

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted oral and maxillofacial surgery in a myriad of ways. The residency application process has been particularly affected, such as the cancellation of in-person externships and the prospect of virtual interviews. However, the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery has remained resilient in the face of this challenge. On July 29, 2020, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) organized a novel virtual residency fair. This event sought to help applicants better understand oral and maxillofacial surgery residency programs and recoup, at least in part, some of the takeaways that would have come from externships and inperson interviews in previous years. Although the event definitely has kinks to be ironed out, we believe that this program was a strong step in the right direction in improving the residency application process, regardless of the pandemic. In the next sections, we discuss structural issues that students may encounter during the oral and maxillofacial surgery residency application process and in turn propose suggestions to improve the virtual residency fair in the coming years.