Evaluation of Musculoskeletal Radiology Fellowship Websites

Abstract

ObjectiveMaintaining a complete musculoskeletal (MSK) radiology fellowship website is important for recruiting residents, particularly given implementation of the new MSK Match. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the comprehensiveness of MSK fellowship program websites during the first MSK Fellowship Match. Materials and MethodsA list of MSK fellowships was obtained from the Society for Skeletal Radiology website. Each program's website was searched for the presence of 23 criteria previously identified as important for radiology residents applying to fellowships (Table 1); including information about the application process, program benefits, clinical and research training, and current fellows and faculty. We used t-tests and ANOVA to compare mean number of criteria present on websites between ACGME nonaccredited and accredited programs. ResultsOf 89 MSK fellowship programs (15 accredited vs 74 nonaccredited), 81 (91%) had a dedicated MSK fellowship website. Only 6 (7%) assessed at least two-thirds of criteria. The most frequently included information included contact information (100%, 89/89), program description (97%, 86/89), application requirements (92%, 82/88), and length of fellowship (91%, 81/89). The least common information included elective offerings (11%, 10/89), moonlighting opportunities (9%, 8/89), social life (9%, 9/89), and a listing of fellow/faculty publications (9%, 8/89). Nonaccredited programs reported significantly more items than accredited programs (12.3 vs 10.2, P = 0.022). ConclusionsMSK fellowship websites are inadequately comprehensive, with less than half of assessed criteria present, on average. Inclusion of key factors known to be important to radiology residents can serve as opportunities for MSK fellowship websites to better recruit residents.