How Comprehensive Are Aesthetic Surgery Fellowship Websites?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Plastic Surgery

Background:

• Fellowship websites are crucial for recruiting senior residents.
• Previous studies found content deficiencies in subspecialty fellowship websites.
• No prior research evaluated aesthetic surgery fellowship websites.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the accessibility and completeness of educational and recruitment content on aesthetic surgery fellowship websites.
• To identify deficiencies in online information for prospective fellowship applicants.

Main Methods:

• Evaluation of aesthetic fellowship websites (AFWs) for educational and recruitment content.
• Content analysis using Fisher exact test and analysis of variance.
• Inclusion of 28 fellowship programs identified from the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery website.

Main Results:

• Few AFWs detail operative experience (35.7%), research requirements (35.7%), or didactics (28.6%).
• Information on rotation schedules, conferences, and evaluation criteria is largely absent.
• While most AFWs provide program descriptions (85.7%), details on faculty, current fellows, or selection criteria are scarce.
• Fellowships offering whole-body aesthetic training had more recruitment content than facial aesthetics-only programs (P = 0.0394).

Conclusions:

• Aesthetic surgery fellowship websites present a significant paucity of essential recruitment and educational information.
• Programs must enhance their websites to provide comprehensive details, thereby improving applicant attraction and support.