Embi Peter J, Desai Sima, Cooney Thomas G
Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Medicine, Portland, OR, USA.
J Med Internet Res. 2003 Jul-Sep;5(3):e22. doi: 10.2196/jmir.5.3.e22. Epub 2003 Sep 25.
The Internet has become essential to the residency application process. In recent years, applicants and residency programs have used the Internet-based tools of the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP, the Match) and the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) to process and manage application and Match information. In addition, many residency programs have moved their recruitment information from printed brochures to Web sites. Despite this change, little is known about how applicants use residency program Web sites and what constitutes optimal residency Web site content, information that is critical to developing and maintaining such sites.
To study the use and perceived utility of Web-based residency program information by surveying applicants to an internal medicine program.
Our sample population was the applicants to the Oregon Health & Science University Internal Medicine Residency Program who were invited for an interview. We solicited participation using the group e-mail feature available through the Electronic Residency Application Service Post-Office application. To minimize the possibility for biased responses, the study was confined to the period between submission of National Residency Matching Program rank-order lists and release of Match results. Applicants could respond using an anonymous Web-based form or by reply to the e-mail solicitation. We tabulated responses, calculated percentages for each, and performed a qualitative analysis of comments.
Of the 431 potential participants, 218 responded (51%) during the study period. Ninety-nine percent reported comfort browsing the Web; 52% accessed the Web primarily from home. Sixty-nine percent learned about residency Web sites primarily from residency-specific directories while 19% relied on general directories. Eighty percent found these sites helpful when deciding where to apply, 69% when deciding where to interview, and 36% when deciding how to rank order programs for the Match. Forty-nine percent found sites most useful in deciding where to apply, while 40% found them most useful while preparing for their interviews. Seventy-two percent felt that a "complete" Web site could substitute for a mailed printed brochure. Qualitative analysis identified additional important information needs.
Applicants are turning to residency Web sites for information during critical phases of the application process. Though usually helpful, many of these sites are felt to be incomplete and may not be meeting important applicant information needs. These findings should be useful to those involved in residency recruitment efforts and in counseling applicants.
互联网已成为住院医师申请流程中不可或缺的一部分。近年来，申请人和住院医师培训项目利用基于互联网的国家住院医师匹配计划（NRMP，即“匹配计划”）和电子住院医师申请服务（ERAS）工具来处理和管理申请及匹配信息。此外，许多住院医师培训项目已将其招聘信息从印刷手册转移到了网站上。尽管有这一变化，但对于申请人如何使用住院医师培训项目网站以及什么构成最佳住院医师网站内容，人们却知之甚少，而这些信息对于开发和维护此类网站至关重要。
通过对内科住院医师培训项目的申请人进行调查，研究基于网络的住院医师培训项目信息的使用情况及感知效用。
我们的样本群体是受邀参加面试的俄勒冈健康与科学大学内科住院医师培训项目的申请人。我们通过电子住院医师申请服务邮局应用程序提供的群组电子邮件功能征集参与。为尽量减少有偏差回复的可能性，研究限于提交国家住院医师匹配计划排名列表至公布匹配结果之间的时间段。申请人可以使用基于网络的匿名表格回复，也可以回复电子邮件邀请。我们将回复制成表格，计算各项的百分比，并对评论进行定性分析。
在431名潜在参与者中，218人（51%）在研究期间做出了回复。99%的人表示习惯浏览网页；52%的人主要在家中上网。69%的人主要从住院医师特定目录中了解住院医师网站，而19%的人依赖通用目录。80%的人认为这些网站在决定申请地点时很有帮助，69%的人在决定面试地点时觉得有帮助，36%的人在决定如何为匹配计划对项目进行排名时觉得有帮助。49%的人认为网站在决定申请地点时最有用，而40%的人认为在准备面试时最有用。72%的人觉得一个“完整”的网站可以替代邮寄的印刷手册。定性分析确定了其他重要的信息需求。
在申请过程的关键阶段，申请人正转向住院医师网站获取信息。尽管这些网站通常很有帮助，但许多人认为它们并不完整，可能无法满足申请人的重要信息需求。这些发现对于参与住院医师招聘工作和为申请人提供咨询的人员应是有用的。
