An evaluation of social media utilization by general surgery programs in the COVID-19 era

Abstract

Background: Our study investigates how general surgery residency programs utilized social media to adapt to the challenges of COVID-19. Methods: 319 participating general surgery residency programs provided by the Electronic Residency Application Service were analyzed in this study. Associated Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts were assessed to find virtual open houses and externships. Results: Of the 319 program, 188 (59%) were found to have a social media presence. A total of 348 social media accounts were found, as some of the programs had separate residency and department accounts. Of all the social media accounts, 112 (32%) of the accounts were created after March 1, 2020. Virtual open houses opportunities were found to be advertised across all platforms. Conclusion: Many general surgery programs responded to the physical limitations of COVID-19 pandemic by increasingly utilizing social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual opportunities should be considered as a novel approach for future outreach and recruitment.

The Virtual Recruitment Onion: Peeling Back the Layers of the Interview Season During the COVID-era

“…Traditional methods such as away rotations and meet & greet events at national conferences became almost irrelevant this year as in-person activities were curtailed. Based on our study's findings, a significant increase in the residency programs’ online presence through social media, 23 virtual meetings with PDs and current residents as well as updating and bulking up the program's website became ever more important. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, social media had begun to alter how residency programs and prospective applicants gained access to one another and interacted.…”

“… 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 In addition, other recruitment strategies utilizing social media has been garnering increased interest as social media has significantly changed how applicants and residency programs gain access to one another. 15 , 16 , 22 , 23 Prior literature has focused on applicants’ experiences and perspectives, and limited work currently exists on the residency programs’ perspective on these recruitment strategies.…”

Evaluation of Emergency Medicine Residency Programs’ use of social media in the setting of the COVID‐19 pandemic

“… 15 , 16 One way programs are doing so is by advertising virtual open houses and virtual subinternships on social media. 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 These efforts are not unnoticed by residency applicants. Applicants applying to various specialties have stated that web pages, social media, and virtual interactions are beneficial and do influence the applicant's opinions about a program.…”

Commentary and Opinions: The Utilization of Social Media by Medical Residency Programs During COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

“…As residency programs are exploring new ways to overcome the challenges of elective cancellation, there has been a surge of residency program social media accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (Fang et al, 2021;DeAtkine et al, 2020). For the residency programs, social media serves as a platform to promote themselves by posting about residents' biographies, programs' virtual open-house events, facilities, and research opportunities (DeAtkine et al, 2020).…”

“…From the medical student perspective, social media residency accounts are beneficial as they allow them to explore different aspects of the programs in a new way (Ahmadmehrabi, Xie, Ward, Bryson, & Byrne, 2021). Moreover, students have a chance to network virtually with their fellow applicants, residents and program directors through social media given the social distancing measures in place for the COVID-19 pandemic (Ahmadmehrabi, Xie, Ward, Bryson, & Byrne, 2021;Fang et al, 2021). Another advantage of virtual experiences is that they reduce financial barriers and geographical limitations for students (Fang et al,202) To maximize the success of using social media, it is important for the residency programs to consider the attitudes of applicants towards the residency social media accounts.…”