C. H. Mullins1, S. Goyer2, C. Cantrell1, B. Corey2,3 1University Of Alabama at Birmingham,School Of Medicine,Birmingham, AL, USA 2University Of Alabama at Birmingham,Department Of Surgery,Birmingham, AL, USA 3University Of Alabama at Birmingham,Birmingham Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center,Birmingham, AL, USA
Introduction: For over a decade, the number of surgery residents wishing to pursue additional fellowship training has continued to increase. Candidates often utilize web sites to evaluate and search for programs within their desired field. The presence of these websites and the information available through them has the potential to influence applicant decisions. The objective of this study was to analyze what data is available from Advanced GI, Bariatric, Flexible Endo, HPB, and Advanced GI MIS fellowship web sites.
Methods: The programs evaluated were chosen based on their inclusion in The Fellowship Council directory (FCD), the accrediting body for MIS fellowships. The FCD was used to find functional links to program websites; websites were also identified through a systematic Google® search. In addition, all program specific data available through the FCD itself was accessed and analyzed separately from the institutionally based websites. The websites were evaluated based on the presence or absence of 21 previously established individual content criteria.
Results: In total, the FCD listed 144 programs. Of those, each program had a dedicated page within the directory itself, 104(72%) had functional links listed, and 96(66.6%) of those links were identified as being specific webpages to the fellowship program through a Google® search. Overall, the FCD website contained 53% of the data points assessed, with only 27% of criteria available through programs’ institutional websites. The most common criteria met for both the FCD and institutional websites was program description at 97% and 62% respectively. The least common data point identified, the medical school or residency of current fellows, was 0% from the FCD and 6% from program specific websites. The mode for the number of data points filled was 11 for the FCD and 6 for institutionally based webpages when present. Less than half the programs fulfilled over 50% of identified criteria through the FCD templated directory, with one-third of programs listed failing to provide any program specific information via a website outside the FCD. When such websites were present, the average criteria met remained at 40%.
Conclusion: Information available online for MIS fellowship programs is lacking, with many institutionally supported webpages absent altogether outside of the FCD. In addition, the presented content is inconsistent and variable across programs and information sources. A more thorough approach to online fellowship information availability can allow for more tailored application and interview choices by candidates and programs alike, potentially decreasing costs and time spent on the interview process.
