Related Experiment Videos
General surgery residency program websites: usefulness and usability for resident applicants
Eugene F Reilly1, Thomas J Leibrandt, Alan J Zonno
1Department of Surgery, Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, Pennsylvania, USA.
Current Surgery
|March 31, 2004
Summary
General surgery residency websites are not optimized for recruitment, lacking essential content and user-friendly design. Improving website content and usability is crucial for attracting potential residents.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Surgical Training
- Web Usability
Background:
- Residency program websites are key recruitment tools.
- Assessing their effectiveness is vital for attracting top candidates.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate general surgery residency websites for content, recruitment potential, and usability.
- Identify areas for improvement in online presence.
Main Methods:
- Assessed 251 ACGME-accredited general surgery residency program websites.
- Evaluated accessibility, ease-of-use, design principles, and content.
- Collected data on search efficiency (clicks, errors, returns).
Main Results:
- Only 67% of programs had viable websites.
- Average of 5.9/16 content items found; 5 key items present on >50% of sites.
- High user effort required (24 clicks, 5 returns), low adherence to design principles (3.6% perfect), and 38% overall search success rate.
Conclusions:
- General surgery residency websites are underutilized for recruitment.
- Enhancing content, improving findability, and adopting web design standards can boost usability.
- Websites need optimization to better serve prospective residents.