Plastic Surgery Residency Program Instagram Engagement with Prospective Applicants: A Cohort Analysis in the United...

Social media platforms, particularly Instagram, have revolutionized residency recruitment by offering integrated plastic surgery programs innovative avenues to showcase their culture and engage directly with prospective applicants. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this digital shift, making virtual interactions essential for evaluating program fit.

We identified 88 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited integrated plastic surgery programs for the academic year 2023 to 2024. Instagram posts from January 1, 2020, to October 26, 2024, were reviewed, focusing on "engagement posts" (e.g., meet-and-greets, question-and-answer [Q&A] sessions, open houses, workshops, conference meet-ups). Programs were stratified into cohorts based on Doximity rankings (Top 20, 21-40, 41-60, and 61-88), geographic region, and program size.

All programs maintained active Instagram profiles, collectively sharing 13,719 posts and averaging 32.4 posts per program annually. Among these, 369 (2.7%) were engagement posts, with meet-and-greets accounting for 71.3% of such content. Notably, Top 20 programs posted significantly more frequently (52.6 posts/year) than lower-ranked cohorts (21-40: 35.0, 41-60: 26.8, 61-88: 20.1; p  < 0.001) and had a higher engagement post rate (3.9% vs. 2.0-2.7%; p  = 0.033).

Higher-ranked and larger programs exhibit a more robust Instagram presence with greater emphasis on engagement opportunities, despite these posts comprising only a small fraction of overall content. These findings highlight the potential for optimized social media strategies to enhance digital outreach and improve residency recruitment in an evolving virtual landscape.