Exploring Applicants' Perceptions of the Social Media Presence of Orthopedic Surgery Residency Programs

Introduction In recent years, medical students and residents across the country have begun to utilize social media as a tool to connect. With more access to technology than ever before, medical students are using residency social media pages to find out more information about the culture of residency programs. Global pandemics, such as COVID-19, assisted in precipitating these changes in resident recruitment efforts due to truncated in-person interactions and limited sub-internship rotations. Additionally, the transition to virtual interviews further pushed medical students to find new ways to connect with residency programs. In response, orthopedic residency programs increased their social media presence to share information and facilitate virtual interactions with applicants. Our goal was to determine the platforms and content most influential for applicants choosing orthopedic surgery residency programs to assess the changing landscape of social media utilization. Methodology Applicants to a single academic orthopedic surgery residency program from 2017 to 2022 were surveyed. Participants were asked to describe personal use of social media, encounters with residency programs on social media, and perceptions of the social media presence and content of orthopedic surgery residency programs. Surveys were distributed to participants via email including a description of the study requesting voluntary participation. Each subject received, at most, one reminder email. The data was analyzed to determine applicant perceptions of the social media presence of Orthopedic Surgery residency programs. Results The survey was distributed to 3690 applicants to Penn State's Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program from the entering class of 2018-2022 in addition to the 19 Penn State fourth-year medical students applying to Orthopedics. A total of 102 people responded to the survey, with a response rate of 3.1%. Of the total number of respondents, 88.2% thought Instagram was the best platform for a residency program to use, and over 65% of respondents would use Instagram to interact with a residency program. Most respondents prefer Resident Biographies, Social Gatherings/Family Life, Day-in-the-Life, Program Culture, and Attending Biographies posted on the Instagram page every week. Applicants observed drinking, politics, and sexist language on social media pages of orthopedic surgery residency programs that were undesirable and caused a negative perception of that program. Conclusions Social media usage has drastically increased in recent years. Global pandemics and increased social media usage among the US population have allowed social media platforms to become a powerful tool for marketing orthopedic surgery residency programs. This survey study examined applicant perceptions of the social media presence of orthopedic surgery residency programs. Instagram was the most widely used and influential. According to surveyed participants, programs desiring to create the most positive impact through social media should aim for weekly posts highlighting the people, events, and everyday life of the orthopedic residency while avoiding controversial content that may ostracize applicants.