484 - Social Media's Influence on Pediatric Residency Recruitment

Poster Number: 484
Publication Number: 484.421

Nicholas M.. Heitkamp, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, United States; Taylor Bono, EVMS/CHKD, Norfolk, VA, United States; Sanjana I. Mathur, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, United States; Phil M. Mendez, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, United States; Haree Pallera, Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters / Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, United States; Turaj Vazifedan, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, United States; J. Bryan Carmody, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, United States

Background: Suspension of travel and in-person interviews during 2020 necessitated new strategies from programs to publicize their programs to applicants. Many programs utilize social media for recruitment but little is known about applicant preferences regarding social media for recruitment or the impact it has on decision making.

Objective: Understand the role of social media in pediatric residency applicants' decision making process.

Design/Methods: Pediatric residency program leaders and interns from ACGME-accredited pediatric residency programs were contacted via email utilizing the AAMC’s ERAS directory, AMA’s FREIDA, and program websites for contact information. Surveys were created in REDCap (Vanderbilt, TN). The data collection occurred in November 2022. The survey responses are reported as frequency and percentage.

Results: Both program faculty and interns were recruited: 47 programs and 132 interns participated. Applicants identified program websites as the most common method for information gathering (Figure 1). Greater than one fourth of applicants stated that social media somewhat impacted their decision to apply/rank a program. Applicants identified the most common recruitment information they looked for via social media (Table 1). Applicants agreed that social media posts including photos were the most useful type of posts during recruitment. Almost all programs (98%) have an active Instagram account for recruitment. Most programs (53%) created an Instagram account during or after 2020 while almost all those with Facebook (90%) had it before 2020. Most programs indicated that the best way for applicants to learn about their program is via program websites while Instagram was the second most common answer.

Conclusion(s): Program websites continue as the most common place for curricular information gathering, but Instagram has become a primary avenue for information on culture, wellness, and living. Programs generally do not have a robust presence on Twitter or Facebook and applicant interest in these platforms for recruitment is minimal. Applicants are largely looking to social media for information that is harder to discern from program websites. Greater than a quarter of respondents endorsed that social media had an impact on programs they applied to and ranked emphasizing the increasingly important role of virtual recruitment resources.