Use of social media to supplement orthopaedic surgery resident education

Social media popularity and utilization have increased in recent years. Past studies have shown high usage of video-sharing platforms such as YouTube as a surgery preparation tool for residents. The growth of social media presents opportunities in orthopaedic resident training, marketing, and networking. The purpose of this study was to determine how orthopaedic surgery residency programs are utilizing social media as a component of their educational curricula.

An anonymous survey was distributed to program directors for Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited orthopaedic surgery residency programs who are also a part of the Collaborative Orthopaedic Education Research Group (COERG). Program directors completed the survey and forwarded a resident-specific link to residents in their program. Data was collected between September and October 2021. Descriptive statistics were analysed.

A total of 9 program directors (5 M, 4 did not report gender) and 71 (53 M, 8 F, 2 non-binary/gender non-conforming, 8 did not report gender) orthopaedic surgery residents participated in this survey with a majority of participants from the Northeastern United States (3 of 5 program directors, 60.0%; 42 of 64 residents, 65.6%). Residents identified YouTube (24.8%), Instagram (20.0%), and podcasts (20.0%) as the most popular social media platforms. Four of 8 (50.0%) program directors felt that social media use improved their residents' preparedness for cases, while 3 of 8 (37.5%) felt that it improved teaching of residents. Concerns reported with social media incorporation included confidentiality issues and costs of developing and maintaining social media programs.

Differences exist in the perceived benefits of social media use between orthopaedic surgery residents and program directors. While both groups felt that incorporating social media into training improved case preparedness, only residents felt that their surgical outcomes were improved due to social media use. Most residents viewed the importance of social media incorporation into their training as neutral. This study can serve as a pilot for future studies regarding social media use in orthopaedic surgery resident training due to the improved insight it provides into which social media are being utilized by residents and programs and the attitudes held towards these media.