Changing Dynamics in Medical Education during COVID-19 Pandemic: Are Integrated Plastic Surgery Programs Adapting for Residency Applicants?

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic drastically changed the 2020 to 2021 residency application process.[1] The American Association of Medical Colleges released recommendations against visiting rotations and in-person interviews. Traditionally competitive fields, including plastic surgery, strongly encouraged students to participate in visiting rotations, which offer students an opportunity to network broadly, experience the specialty outside their own school’s department, and learn about different residency training programs.[1,2] Loss of in-person evaluations may impact programs’ assessments of applicants and applicants’ impressions of programs. In this article, we describe how integrated plastic surgery programs adapted for the 2021 application cycle by developing a social media presence and implementing virtual opportunities.

An official list of accredited integrated plastic surgery residency programs was obtained from the Electronic Residency Application Service, identifying 82 programs. All programs were included and reviewed for the presence of departmental and residency Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts. Platforms, program websites, and the American Council of Academic Plastic Surgeons website were reviewed for posts regarding virtual subinternship and open house opportunities. The Visiting Student Application Service website was reviewed for virtual subinternship opportunities. All data were collected on September 9, 2020.

Social media presence and virtual opportunities are profiled in Tables 1 and 2. In total, 138 social media accounts were identified, 65 programs (80 percent) had an online presence on either Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, and 12 (15 percent) had a presence on all three platforms.

Table 1.

Social Media Characteristics of Integrated Plastic Surgery Programs: Ownership and Creation Date of Program Social Media Accounts

Program Characteristics	No. of Accounts (%)	No. Established before 2020 (%)	No. Established after 2020 (%)
Twitter
Departmental Twitter	27 (33%)	23 (85%)	4 (15%)
Residency Twitter	4 (4%)	4 (100%)	0 (0%)
Instagram
Departmental  Instagram	22 (27%)	21 (96%)	1 (4%)
Residency Instagram	49 (60%)	38 (78%)	11 (22%)
Facebook
Departmental  Facebook	30 (37%)	28 (93%)	2 (7%)
Residency Facebook	6 (7%)	5 (83%)	1 (17%)

Table 2.

Social Media Characteristics of Integrated Plastic Surgery Programs: Number of Programs with Open House and Subinternship Opportunities

Program Characteristics	Twitter	Instagram	Facebook
Programs with open house opportunities on social media, no.	10 (12%)	36 (44%)	6 (7%)
Programs with virtual subinternship opportunities on social media, no.	2 (2%)	8 (10%)	1 (1%)

Open houses were listed by 50 programs (61 percent) on American Council of Academic Plastic Surgeons and four program websites (5 percent). Instagram offered 88 total open house opportunities, and 17 programs (21 percent) posted more than one offering. Three virtual subinternships (4 percent) were identified through the Visiting Student Application Service website and none through American Council of Academic Plastic Surgeons or program websites. Two virtual subinternships listed on the Visiting Student Application Service website were not advertised on social media, and six virtual subinternships available on social media were not listed on the Visiting Student Application Service website.

Hosting of virtual open houses appears to be the preferred method of outreach to applicants this year, adhering to COVID-19 social distancing recommendations and travel limitations. Open houses hosted by residency training programs may have increased impact over virtual subinternships, creating program diversity for applicants. The apparent lack of virtual subinternship standardization through an official American Association of Medical Colleges platform is novel, and we recommend exploration of program social media to elucidate opportunities. We anticipate that letters of recommendation from students’ home institutions and program director communication will play an enhanced role in the 2021–2022 residency application year.

Almost all integrated plastic surgery residency social media accounts were made before 2020 (Fig. 1). Instagram is the preferred social media platform of integrated programs, supported by 2020 studies.[3,4]

Fig. 1.

Date of social media account foundation.

This article has limitations, including its retrospective nature. Data may be skewed due to the constantly changing social media platforms. In addition, the opening of departmental grand rounds, didactic conferences, and the like were not captured.

Integrated plastic surgery residency programs adapted to the novel COVID-19 pandemic by creation of virtual open houses for applicants. Programs demonstrated minimal virtual subinternship opportunities. Instagram is the preferred social media outlet for integrated plastic surgery residencies.

DISCLOSURE

None of the authors has a financial interest in any of the products mentioned in this article. No funding was received for this article.