The Relationship between Plastic Surgery Residency Instagram Characteristics and Doximity Rank

Abstract

Background: Social media provides unique insight into the facilities, personnel, and culture of plastic surgery residency programs. Applicants can gain a more holistic view of programs based on their social media accounts. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between the popularity of a program's Instagram account and the program's Doximity ranking and to investigate the factors which contribute to greater viewership, with a special focus on diversity. Methods: Using Doximity's 2021-2022 Residency Navigator, a list of all integrated plastic surgery residency programs was obtained, and their social media accounts were documented. Instagram accounts were analyzed for metrics, post content, and website links. A 15-month period of posts was analyzed, then grouped into eight categories. Diversity was assessed using average Fitzpatrick skin type for each post containing photographs of people. Results: Of the 88 programs, 85 (96.6%) had an Instagram account at the time of analysis. Analysis of Instagram post content found that personnel and social function posts had significantly more likes than other categories. Posts with average Fitzpatrick type greater than or equal to III also had significantly more likes. Linear regression demonstrated a positive relationship between higher Doximity rank and number of followers; however, there was no clear relationship between rank and posts per week or engagement score. Conclusions: Plastic surgery social media accounts may make a positive impact on followers. It is important to understand the factors that can increase engagement and broaden viewership. Tailoring posts based on content popularity and highlighting diversity may help to accomplish these goals.

Social media trends in obstetrics and gynecology residency programs on Instagram and X (Twitter)

“…Additionally, awards and/or the Match followed by social, class, and surgical were the most engaged content. Although not all categories were the same, our results are consistent with plastic surgery literature with social posts and accolades (like awards/match) being of high importance [ 11 , 28 ]. The emphasis on social content may be a consequence of prohibited in-person interaction because of the COVID pandemic and may allow applicants to determine program ‘fit’.…”

“…Surprisingly, increased frequency of Instagram posts was not associated with more followers as expected given suspected mutual engagement. This is similar to plastic surgery literature showing only a weak correlation between number of posts and engagement [ 11 ]. Likely, there is an optimal post frequency as seen in prior social media data [ 26 ].…”

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Plastic Surgery

“…A total of 138 publications were identified 3–140 Figure 1. demonstrates the number of publications appearing annually in the 6 journals from January 2018 to September 2023.…”

“…Many studies used Fitzpatrick skin types judged from photographs obtained on the Internet 16,18,38,77,126 . Most investigators recognize that skin type does not correlate well with race 23,86,128 .…”

“…Recommendations also included changing the residency application process to a holistic review of applications instead of using grades, 37,57,62,72,126,127,136 such as USMLE Step 1 scores. In 2022, these scores were changed from numeric scores to simply pass or fail 146 .…”