Patients with major medical illness seek cosmetic procedures to preserve a healthy appearance and avoid looking ill

Cosmetic dermatologic surgery fellowship websites and social media presence: Opportunities for improved applicant recruitment

INTRODUCTION

The American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) established a cosmetic dermatologic surgery fellowship in 2013. Programs often outline details of fellowships on their websites to help prospective applicants make informed decisions. Our primary goal was to evaluate the content quality of online information for all ASDS-accredited cosmetic dermatologic surgery fellowships on program websites and the ASDS website. Our secondary goal was to describe program activity on social media platforms as another avenue for applicant recruitment.

METHODS

Program websites were assessed using an aggregate score from twenty-one standardized content quality variables. Social media activity on Facebook and Instagram from January 6 2021, to March 6, 2021, was categorized.

RESULTS

Among 24 cosmetic dermatologic surgery fellowship programs, 23 had websites. Basic information was provided across most websites or the ASDS website (eg, address, 95.8%), but more qualitative variables like research opportunities or didactic schedule were not consistently reported. Most programs had highly active social media accounts (91.7% on Facebook and 79.2% on Instagram).

CONCLUSION

There is a gap of information availability between the ASDS website and individual cosmetic dermatologic surgery fellowship websites. Increasing information availability may enhance the applicant recruitment process and serve as a low-cost intervention to ensure optimal fit.