Hu Jiayi, Zhen Meng, Olteanu Cristina, Avram Ronen
Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Faculty of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Plast Surg (Oakv). 2016 Fall;24(3):187-190. doi: 10.4172/plastic-surgery.1000974. Epub 2016 Aug 19.
Websites for residency and fellowship programs serve as effective educational and recruitment tools.
To evaluate the accessibility and content of fellowship websites that are commonly used by microsurgery applicants for career development.
A list of one-year microsurgery fellowship websites (MFWs) was compiled by visiting the centralized American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM) website, followed by performing an extensive 'Google' search in October 2015. Accessibility of MFWs was assessed. Website content regarding key recruitment and education variables was also comprehensively reviewed. Website content was correlated with program characteristics using tests and ANOVA (two-tailed; P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant).
A list of 53 eligible programs was compiled. Only 15 of 51 (29%) ASRM program links were functional. On average, the combined content from ASRM website and individual MFWs had 2.91 of 6 recruitment variables and 1.32 of 6 education variables, respectively. The majority of programs listed 'eligibility criteria' (87%) and 'general information' (87%). 'Evaluation criteria' were most poorly reported (4%). Recruitment score was higher for United States programs compared with international counterparts (51% versus 33%, respectively; P=0.02). It was also higher in programs that focus on 'extremity' versus 'breast' (58% versus 37%; P=0.0028). Education scores did not differ according to location, program size, subspecialty of focus or participation in the Microsurgery Match process.
Information regarding recruitment and education on most MFWs is scarce. Academic institutions should keep website content up to date and comprehensive to better assist candidates in the application process.
住院医师培训和专科培训项目的网站是有效的教育和招聘工具。
评估显微外科申请者在职业发展中常用的专科培训网站的可访问性和内容。
通过访问美国重建显微外科学会（ASRM）的集中网站，编制了一份为期一年的显微外科专科培训网站（MFWs）列表，随后于2015年10月进行了广泛的“谷歌”搜索。评估了MFWs的可访问性。还对有关关键招聘和教育变量的网站内容进行了全面审查。使用检验和方差分析（双侧；P<0.05被认为具有统计学意义）将网站内容与项目特征进行关联。
编制了一份包含53个符合条件项目的列表。51个ASRM项目链接中只有15个（29%）可以正常使用。平均而言，ASRM网站和各个MFWs的综合内容分别有6个招聘变量中的2.91个和6个教育变量中的1.32个。大多数项目列出了“资格标准”（87%）和“一般信息”（87%）。“评估标准”的报告最少（4%）。与国际项目相比，美国项目的招聘得分更高（分别为51%和33%；P=0.02）。专注于“四肢”的项目的招聘得分也高于专注于“乳房”的项目（58%对37%；P=0.0028）。教育得分在不同地区、项目规模、专注的亚专业或是否参与显微外科匹配过程方面没有差异。
大多数MFWs上关于招聘和教育的信息很少。学术机构应及时更新并完善网站内容，以更好地协助申请者进行申请过程。
