Analysis of Social Media Perceptions Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Applicants and Social Media Use by Residency Programs During the 2020 to 2021 Cycle

Checketts, Jake X.; Hunt, Tyler J.; Checketts, Beaun R; Scott, Jared; Johnson, Mark S.; Boose, Marshall; Schwartz, Mark; Chalkin, Brian

doi:10.2106/jbjs.oa.21.00083

Cited by 11 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…One study surveyed 127 applicants to an osteopathic orthopaedic residency program. These authors report that most applicants use social media, more than half agree that programs have increased their interest by posting something on social media, and more than three-quarters of applicants believe that orthopaedic programs should maintain social media accounts 15 . However, the impact that program-based social media has on applicants' perspectives, differential platform use by applicants, and the perceptions of allopathic applicants have yet to be reported.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Orthopaedic Residency Applicants' Perspective on Program-Based Social Media

et al. 2022

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Background: Social media and online resources have been used in graduate medical education for years. In addition to an official residency program website, many orthopaedic surgery programs have an established social media presence to interact, educate, and engage with prospective applicants. The role of social media in orthopaedic surgery has significantly expanded in recent years. Despite its increasing use, the specific impact of social media on orthopaedic surgery residency applicants remains unknown. Methods: Applicants to the home institution's orthopaedic surgery residency program were sent an optional online survey during the 2020 to 2021 application cycle. No incentive was provided in exchange for participation. Results: Of 812 orthopaedic surgery applicants, 650 (80%) completed the survey. Program-based social media is widely accessed by applicants. Instagram is used by most applicants (61.9%), and nearly a third (28.7%) rely on it as their main resource when researching prospective residency programs. The majority (66.9%) agreed that social media can be successfully used to inform and interact with applicants. Most of the applicants (60.6%) also reported that social media had a positive impact on their perception of the associated program. Only 5.7% of respondents indicated that social media had a negative influence. The most effective uses of social media seem to be in allowing a program to display its culture and transparency. Conclusion: Social media plays a substantial role in the orthopaedic surgery residency application process, and its use continues to grow. Programs can use it to effectively engage with and inform prospective applicants. The impact of social media is positive on most of the applicants. Instagram is the preferred social media platform used by applicants, and nearly one-third rely on it as their main resource when researching programs. Investing time and resources into a social media presence seems to be a worthwhile pursuit for orthopaedic surgery programs as an important piece to a wellrounded recruitment effort of modern orthopaedic surgery applicants.Disclosure: The Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest forms are provided with the online version of the article (http://links.lww.com/JBJSOA/A383).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Orthopaedic Residency Applicants' Perspective on Program-Based Social Media

et al. 2022

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“…This trend continued as the pandemic extended into the 2021-2022 Match cycle. Applicants expect orthopaedic surgery programs to have social media accounts, specifically an Instagram account, 19 and programs have responded with posts depicting residents and their lives both inside and outside of the hospital. These Instagram accounts likely give applicants a unique window into the culture of a residency program.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Instagram Use Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Programs

Bixby

Danford

Desai

et al. 2022

J Am Acad Orthop Surg

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Introduction:The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges to residency recruitment. With in-person away rotations prohibited and interviews held virtually, orthopaedic residency programs turned to social media. Studies document the exponential growth of residency program Instagram accounts after March 2020, but few analyze the content of their posts. This study provides an updated assessment of such Instagram accounts including a detailed analysis of their content and a discussion of potentially concerning posts. Methods: Orthopaedic surgery residency programs participating in the National Resident Matching Program and any Instagram accounts associated with these programs were identified. Instagram accounts were analyzed, and the 25 most recent posts and all highlighted stories for each account were coded for content based on a predetermined list of categories. Specific attention was given to content that may raise legal, ethical, or professionalism concerns. The primary outcome was the most common content code among posts. The secondary outcomes were the number of posts identified as potentially concerning and the types of concerns represented. Results: Overall, 138 of 193 residency programs (72%) had an Instagram account at the time of cross-sectional analysis, 65% of which were created between April and December 2020. All accounts were public. Profiles had on average 1,1566 750 followers and 59 6 75 posts. Of the 3,348 posts analyzed, the most common coded themes were resident introductions (33%), camaraderie (27%), and social life and hobbies (26%). There were 81 concerning posts from 52 separate accounts. Seventy-five of the concerning posts (93%) depicted residents scrubbed alone. Conclusion: Orthopaedic residency Instagram accounts are potential tools for residency recruitment and can depict a program's culture through posts over time. However, public accounts are open to scrutiny by other viewers, including patients and their families. Care must be taken to consider multiple perspectives of post content, so as to bolster, not damage, the residency program's reputation.

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“…This is especially difficult for applicants, as many view their sub-internships as an opportunity to make an impression, obtain letters of recommendation, show interest at specific programs, and evaluate their comfort and lifestyle in a new city. Based on the aforementioned information, orthopaedic surgery programs should continue to utilize virtual platforms to supplement the traditional interview process, as they have been shown to influence interest in certain programs for the majority of orthopedic surgery applicants[ 6 ]. However, virtual interactions should not be seen as a replacement to externships and in-person interviews.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior literature reported 85% of interviewees utilized at least one social media platform to learn more about individual programs[ 5 ]. Another study showed up to 77.8% of applicants feel that residency programs should be utilizing social media as a means of communication, and the majority of applicants (54.3%) in the 2021 application cycle were influenced by social media with regards to interest in specific residency programs[ 6 ]. Considering the new challenges that emerged, social media has allowed programs and applicants with a platform to engage with one another in meaningful ways.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media growth of orthopaedic surgery residency programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Geller¹,

Massel²,

Rizzo³

et al. 2022

WJO

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BACKGROUND In the Spring of 2020, residency programs across the country experienced rapid and drastic changes to their application process as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In response, residency programs shifted to virtual events and began harnessing social media to communicate with applicants. AIM To analyze the changes in social media usage by orthopaedic surgery programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS Based on the 2019 residency and fellowship electronic database, accredited US orthopaedic surgery programs were reviewed for social media presence on Instagram and Twitter. Approximately 47000 tweets from 2011-2021 were extracted through the Twitter application programming interface. We extracted: Total number of followers, accounts following, tweets, likes, date of account creation, hashtags, and mentions. Natural language processing was utilized for tweet sentiment analysis and classified as positive, neutral, or negative. Instagram data was collected and deemed current as of August 11, 2021. The account foundation date analysis was based on the date recognized as the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, before or after March 1, 2020. RESULTS A total of 85 (42.3%) orthopaedic surgery residency program Twitter handles were identified. Thirty-five (41.2%) programs joined Twitter in the nine months after the 2020 covid outbreak. In 2020, there was a 126.6% increase in volume of tweets by orthopaedic surgery residency accounts as compared to 2019. The median number of followers was 474.5 (interquartile range 205.0-796.5). The account with the highest number of tweets was Hospital for Special Surgery (@HSpecialSurgery) with 13776 tweets followed by University of Virginia (@UVA_Ortho) with 5063 and Yale (@OrthoAtYale) with 899. Sentiment analysis before 2020 revealed 30.4% positive, 60.8% neutral, and 8.8% negative sentiments across tweets. Interestingly, the positive sentiment percentage increased in 2020 from 30.4% to 34.5%. Of the 201 ACGME-accredited orthopaedic residency programs on Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database, 115 (57.2%) participate on Instagram, with 101 (87.8%) identified as “resident”-managed vs 14 (12.2%) identified as “department”-managed. Over three quarters (77.4%) of Instagram accounts were created after March 1, 2020. The average number of followers per account was 1089.5 with an average of 58.9 total posts. CONCLUSION Our study demonstrates a substantial growth of Instagram and Twitter presence by orthopaedic surgery residency programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. These data suggest that orthopaedic residency programs have utilized social media as a new way to communicate with applicants and showcase their programs in light of the challenges presented by the pandemic.

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Analysis of Social Media Perceptions Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Applicants and Social Media Use by Residency Programs During the 2020 to 2021 Cycle

Cited by 11 publications

References 19 publications

Orthopaedic Residency Applicants' Perspective on Program-Based Social Media

Orthopaedic Residency Applicants' Perspective on Program-Based Social Media

Instagram Use Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Programs

Social media growth of orthopaedic surgery residency programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

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