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Review
. 2021 Oct 19;6(4):e21.00073.
doi: 10.2106/JBJS.OA.21.00073. eCollection 2021 Oct-Dec.

Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program Social Media Presence During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Joshua T Bram  1 , Lori Jia  1 , William Huffman  1 , Jaimo Ahn  2
Affiliations
Review

Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program Social Media Presence During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Joshua T Bram et al. JB JS Open Access. .

Abstract

In light of away rotation and in-person interview cancellations for the 2020 to 2021 application cycle, social media has become a popular tool for orthopaedic surgery residency programs to highlight their strengths, curricula, and social life to prospective applicants. The authors sought to explore the proliferation and utilization of 3 popular social media platforms by both orthopaedic surgery departments and residencies.

Methods: Orthopaedic surgery departmental and residency program social media accounts and their creation dates across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were identified using a standardized search methodology. Residency Instagram accounts were further evaluated for the number of posts, followers, likes, and comments. Both departments and residency programs were cohorted by affiliation with a US News &World Report (USNWR) top 50 American hospital for orthopaedics or by status as a Doximity top 20 program based on reputation.

Results: Across a total of 192 residency programs included for analysis, Instagram was the most popular social media platform (61.5%), followed by Twitter (19.8%) and Facebook (10.4%). Conversely, orthopaedic departments more frequently used Facebook (33.9%) and Twitter (28.1%) over Instagram (17.2%). Of the 118 residency Instagram accounts, 102 (86.4%) were created after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Larger residency programs (≥6 spots/year) and those programs in the Doximity top 20 or affiliated with USNWR top 50 orthopaedic hospitals had a greater number of followers as well as likes and comments per post (p < 0.05 for all).

Conclusions: Given the recruitment challenges faced by residency programs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Instagram has rapidly become a prominent platform for attracting orthopaedic surgery applicants. These accounts have a large number of followers, particularly for residency programs with higher Doximity reputation rankings.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest forms are provided with the online version of the article (http://links.lww.com/JBJSOA/A320).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Orthopaedic surgery residency program social media account creation. The vertical yellow bar represents the date of the World Health Organization COVID-19 pandemic declaration (March 11, 2020). The first residency program Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts were created on September 14, 2010, August 1, 2020, and December 13, 2017, respectively.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Orthopaedic surgery department and affiliated institution social media account creation. The vertical yellow bar represents the date of the World Health Organization COVID-19 pandemic declaration (March 11, 2020). The first residency program Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts were created on May 15, 2009, July 7, 2009, and September 30, 2013, respectively.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Categorization of Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program Instagram Posts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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