GW EMBERS Research Lab

Endocrine, MIS, Breast, and Education Research in Surgery

The Evolving Role of Instagram in General Surgery Residency Programs and Keys to Successful Use in Yours: Input from an Academic, Tertiary Referral Program.


Journal article


I. Haskins, R. Sillcox, Sangrag Ganguli, Brynne A. Ichiuji, R. Amdur, K. Vaziri, Juliet Lee, H. Jackson
Journal of Surgical Education, 2021

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APA   Click to copy
Haskins, I., Sillcox, R., Ganguli, S., Ichiuji, B. A., Amdur, R., Vaziri, K., … Jackson, H. (2021). The Evolving Role of Instagram in General Surgery Residency Programs and Keys to Successful Use in Yours: Input from an Academic, Tertiary Referral Program. Journal of Surgical Education.


Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Haskins, I., R. Sillcox, Sangrag Ganguli, Brynne A. Ichiuji, R. Amdur, K. Vaziri, Juliet Lee, and H. Jackson. “The Evolving Role of Instagram in General Surgery Residency Programs and Keys to Successful Use in Yours: Input from an Academic, Tertiary Referral Program.” Journal of Surgical Education (2021).


MLA   Click to copy
Haskins, I., et al. “The Evolving Role of Instagram in General Surgery Residency Programs and Keys to Successful Use in Yours: Input from an Academic, Tertiary Referral Program.” Journal of Surgical Education, 2021.


BibTeX   Click to copy

@article{i2021a,
  title = {The Evolving Role of Instagram in General Surgery Residency Programs and Keys to Successful Use in Yours: Input from an Academic, Tertiary Referral Program.},
  year = {2021},
  journal = {Journal of Surgical Education},
  author = {Haskins, I. and Sillcox, R. and Ganguli, Sangrag and Ichiuji, Brynne A. and Amdur, R. and Vaziri, K. and Lee, Juliet and Jackson, H.}
}

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Social media has been used as a resource for the dissemination of information in the medical profession. To date, information regarding Instagram use amongst general surgery residency programs is lacking. Our study seeks to detail the use of Instagram amongst general surgery residency programs and to provide suggestions for the practical and successful use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs.

METHORDS We performed a cross-sectional search of general surgery residency program Instagram accounts through June 30, 2020. Descriptive details, the pattern of Instagram use by general surgery residency programs, and the use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs over time were investigated.

RESULTS Ninety-six (29.1%) of the 330 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) general surgery residency programs were identified on Instagram, of which 86 (89.6%) accounts had at least one post. Academic programs (N = 67; 77.9%) were the most common type of program to have an Instagram account (N = 67). The most popular category of posts was promotion of the residents and faculty. In terms of Instagram activity, nearly 20% of Instagram posts were made in the last three-month block of our study period. Using Pearson correlations, positive associations were found between the number of posts and number of followers (0.62, p < 0.0001), the number of posts and the number of likes (0.42, p < 0.0001) and the number of followers and the number of likes (0.78, p < 0.0001). None of these variables were significantly associated with region or program type.

CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, this is the first description of the use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs. Based on the pattern of use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs, we believe that there are five key elements to the successful use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs, including: Interact, Name, Promote, Utilize, and Team (INPUT).