Evaluation of general surgery residency program websites

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the websites of general surgery residency programs in the United States and Puerto Rico. Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) websites (n = 254) were accessed between October 2016 and January 2017 and evaluated for content, including: education, r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of surgery 2019-04, Vol.217 (4), p.794-799
Main Authors: Stoeger, Scott M., Freeman, Hadley, Bitter, Bradon, Helmer, Stephen D., Reyes, Jared, Vincent, Kyle B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bone surgery
Census of Population
Data processing
Education
Education, Medical, Graduate
General Surgery - education
General surgery residency program
Humans
Incentives
Information sources
Internet
Internship and Residency
Match
Orthopedics
Personnel Selection
Plastic surgery
Puerto Rico
Recruitment
Residents
Scholarships & fellowships
Students
Surgery
United States
Web sites
Website
Websites
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Description
Summary:The purpose of this study was to evaluate the websites of general surgery residency programs in the United States and Puerto Rico. Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) websites (n = 254) were accessed between October 2016 and January 2017 and evaluated for content, including: education, resident and faculty information, program environment and specific recruitment incentives. General information, such as conference information, rotations, and faculty information were available for more than 80% of programs. However, specific details about residents, faculty, and applicant information were noticeably lacking. This included resident biographical data and research, faculty names and research endeavors, alumni locations and fellowship placement. Applicant information, specifically board score requirements, were present in less than half of websites nationally. Regionally, websites from the Midwest were the most detailed in the information they provided, while those from the Northeast were the least informative. As a primary information source for potential future residents, general surgery programs need to maximize the content and utility of their websites in order to attract prospective residents to their programs. •Website content varies between general surgery residency programs.•Variability also exists based on location of the program.•General program information is commonly present.•Specific details on the program websites were much less available.
ISSN:0002-9610
1879-1883
DOI:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.12.060