Residency Program Use of Social Media in the COVID-19 Era: An Applicant's Perspective

Background: Social media can influence how students and residents learn about and select graduate medical education programs. COVID-19-related travel restrictions forced residencies to adapt their recruitment strategies. The objective of our investigation was to characterize the prevalence of social media use by orthopaedic surgery residency programs and to examine any change over time before the COVID-19 pandemic and leading up to the 2020 to 2021 virtual interview season. Methods: The Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database was queried for all orthopaedic surgery residency programs (N = 164). We performed a cross-sectional analysis on the use of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by orthopaedic surgery residency programs in May 2019, July 2020, and November 2020. Orthopaedic surgery residency programs were systematically identified on each of the social media platforms. Descriptive statistics were used to facilitate comparisons between the time points. Results: Seventy-six social media accounts were identified in May 2019 compared with 239 in November 2020-a greater than 300% increase in 19 months. The prevalence of residency programs using Facebook increased from 21.3% in May 2019 to 30.5% in July 2020 to 36.0% in November 2020. Similar increases in prevalence were identified for Twitter (15.2%-31.7% then 43.9%) and Instagram (9.1% to 37.2% to 65.9%). In May 2019, we identified 35 programs with Facebook accounts, 26 with Twitter accounts, and 15 with Instagram accounts. By November 2020, this increased to 59 Facebook accounts, 72 Twitter accounts, and 108 Instagram accounts. This corresponds to an expansion in the use of each platform by 69%, 177%, and 620% for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, respectively. Conclusions: The use of social media by academic orthopaedic surgery residency programs increased substantially over the study period. The adoption of Instagram seems to be occurring at the fastest rate. Social media may represent a useful tool in resident recruitment, but the platform must be carefully selected and planned to avoid unintended dilemmas. Disclosure: The Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest forms are provided with the online version of the article (http://links.lww.com/JBJSOA/ A275).

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“…Social media can be a useful tool in highlighting these features of a program in addition to overall culture and day-to-day activities. 11 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Program directors have used social media as an additional evaluation tool and many admitted to changing applicants ranking based on the information 15 , 16 . More recently, Rohde et al suggested a unidirectional flow of information to minimize risk to applicants 11 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analyzing the Proliferation of Social Media Use Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Programs

et al. 2021

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“…It was announced that the entire 2020–2021 residency selection process would be conducted virtually in May 2020 [ 23 ]. Our team’s ongoing monitoring of social media is show that increasing adoption and innovative strategies for engaging applicants [ 24 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing the social media footprint of general surgery residency programs

et al. 2021

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Background The medical community has increasingly embraced social media for a variety of purposes, including trainee education, research dissemination, professional networking, and recruitment of trainees and faculty. Platform choice and usage patterns appear to vary by specialty and purpose, but few studies comprehensively assess programs’ social media presence. Prior studies assessed general surgery departments’ Twitter use but omitted additional social media platforms and residency-specific accounts. Objective This study sought to broadly characterize the social media footprint of U.S. general surgery residency programs. Methods Using a protocolized search of program websites, social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), and internet search, cross-sectional data on social media usage in March 2020 were collected for programs, their affiliated departments, their program directors (PDs), and their assistant/associate PDs (APDs). Results 318 general surgery residency programs, 313 PDs, and 296 APDs were identified. 47.2% of programs had surgery-specific accounts on ≥1 platform. 40.2% of PDs and APDs had ≥1 account on Twitter and/or LinkedIn. Program type was associated with social media adoption and Twitter utilization, with lower usage among university-affiliated and independent programs (p<0.01). Conclusions Most general surgery residencies, especially non-university-based programs, lacked any department or residency accounts across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram by March 2020. These findings highlight opportunities for increased social media engagement and act as a pre-pandemic baseline for future investigations of how the shift to virtual trainee education, recruitment, conferences, and clinical care affect social media use.

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“…In a recent opinion piece, a current applicant expressed appreciation for these strategies: ''[I] hope that departments, programs, and residents, continue to post on social media throughout the application cycle.'' 5 However, the author also voices concerns about discrimination and unclear etiquette for applicant engagement. 5 Rapidly employing a new yet accessible tool is a double-edged sword: While enabling applicants a more 3-dimensional, instantaneous view of a program, we share the author's sentiments and concerns with respect to how best to connect and communicate via social media accounts and maintain the same level of professionalism as an in-person experience.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 However, the author also voices concerns about discrimination and unclear etiquette for applicant engagement. 5 Rapidly employing a new yet accessible tool is a double-edged sword: While enabling applicants a more 3-dimensional, instantaneous view of a program, we share the author's sentiments and concerns with respect to how best to connect and communicate via social media accounts and maintain the same level of professionalism as an in-person experience. Future work is needed to survey applicants' perspectiveswhat they find meaningful as well as their fears and concerns-and to develop clear guidelines for engagement for both applicants and programs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Response to a letter to the editor regarding “Utilization of Instagram by Dermatology Residency Programs in the era of COVID-19”

Schwartzman

Qureshi

Friedman

2021

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

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Residency Program Use of Social Media in the COVID-19 Era: An Applicant's Perspective

Cited by 34 publications

References 4 publications

Analyzing the Proliferation of Social Media Use Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Programs

Analyzing the Proliferation of Social Media Use Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Programs

Characterizing the social media footprint of general surgery residency programs

Response to a letter to the editor regarding “Utilization of Instagram by Dermatology Residency Programs in the era of COVID-19”

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