Web sites and pediatric residency training programs in the United States

The purpose of this study was to describe the use of Web sites by pediatric residency programs in the United States, the information provided on those Web sites, and the degree of user-friendliness in navigating the Web sites. Most residency programs (137/197) listed a Web address; 96% (131) of these sites were accessible and were analyzed. Most programs (98/131) provided information for 11 to 20 content items, 11 programs described less than 10 content items, and the remaining 22 programs listed 21 to 42 content items on their Web sites. Most Web sites (87%) were categorized into the user-friendly level. Extremely user-friendly Web sites also provided information on significantly more content items. Although 95% and 96% of positions were filled through match in programs with user-friendly Web sites and programs with extremely user-friendly Web sites, respectively, these were not statistically different from the programs with less user-friendly Web sites, where only 88% of positions were filled through the match. The majority of pediatric residency training programs have Web sites. Most of these Web sites were user-friendly and provided a variety of information sought by applicants.