The Role of Neurology Residency Programs Presence on Social Media During Residency Application (P10-2.001)

Abstract

<h3>Objective:</h3> To determine if social media presence of neurology residency programs has an impact on applicant9s program perception and selection. <h3>Background:</h3> During the peak of the pandemic, interviews were held virtually. There was an increase in neurology residency program presence on social media. Out of 160 programs, 110 programs have a presence on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Most of residency-run accounts were created after March 1st, 2020. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> The survey has 10 questions and was distributed through twitter accounts, involving @NMatch2023, and medical schools through clerkship directors. Participation is optional. <h3>Results:</h3> Over the course of 3 days, 30 responses were collected. All the participants used both social media to learn about programs with the majority (56.7%) using both Twitter and Instagram. Most (46.7%) used their own personal accounts while 30% used both personal and professional accounts. 60% are 4^th year medical students and the remaining are post-graduate. Most (43.3%) reported a moderate impact of social media presence on program selection and no respondent stated that it had no impact. 50% responded that they are more likely to apply to a program with a social media profile while 46.7% stated that it did not matter. 60% of the participants reported that social media presence had a small impact on their rank list. Most of the respondents (53.3%) were American AMGs and 43.3% were non-American IMGs. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> While all the participants used social media to learn about neurology residency programs and reported that it did have some impact on which programs they selected to apply to, it did not seem to be a crucial deciding factor on residency applications. This may suggest that social media profiles are used primarily to gather information about programs. The small sample size is a limitation of this study and gathering more responses is underway. <b>Disclosure:</b> Dr. Reyes has nothing to disclose. Dr. Rehim has nothing to disclose. Dr. Zobel has nothing to disclose.