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CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2021; 48(01): 107-113
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2020.00836
Clinical Practice and Education
Original Article

Social media impact in the Match: A survey of current trends in the United States

Thomas N. Steele 
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
,
Laura Galarza-Paez 
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
,
Gabriela Aguilo-Seara 
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
,
Lisa R. David 
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
› Author AffiliationsThis article was presented at the Plastic Surgery the Meeting (ASPS) on September 2020, in San Diego, CA, USA and the North Carolina Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting on October 2019, in Cary, NC, USA.
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Background Applicants to integrated plastic and reconstructive surgery (PRS) residency in the United States spend exorbitant amounts of time and money throughout the interview process. Outside of first-hand experience through a visiting rotation, applicants utilize various resources in learning about a program. Today’s applicants are “Millennials,” the demographic cohort raised during the information age and proficient with digital technology. The authors evaluated whether programs have a presence on social media, and whether applicants are following these accounts.

Methods An online survey was sent to applicants to a single integrated plastic surgery program evaluating basic demographics, social media utilization, and sources of information accessed throughout the residency application process. A manual search of popular social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) was performed in October 2019. Accounts affiliated with integrated PRS programs were identified and analyzed.

Results Eighty-four of 222 applicants (37.8%) completed the survey. Ninety-six percent of applicants were within the Millennial demographic. Ninety-six percent of applicants had some form of social media presence, with Facebook (90%) and Instagram (87%) being the most popular platforms. Seventy-three percent of applicants reported following a PRS residency social media account. As of October 2019, 59 integrated residency programs (73%) have active Instagram accounts.

Conclusions Applicants still rely on the program website when researching potential residencies, but social media is being rapidly adopted by programs. Program social media accounts should be used as a dynamic form of communication to better inform applicants of program strengths and weaknesses.

Keywords

Surgery, plastic - Social media - Internship and residency - Education, medical, graduate

Supplementary material



Publication History

Received: 08 May 2020

Accepted: 13 October 2020

Article published online:
20 March 2022

© 2021. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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