Research Assistant Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Yardley, Pennsylvania, United States
Introduction: This study aimed to examine the websites of Neurological Surgery Residency programs across the United States and Canada to determine what details regarding each residency program are provided to applicants through their respective websites. The decreased interaction during the application process during the COVID-19 pandemic warrants investigation into what information is provided to applicants through neurological surgery residency program websites.
Methods: The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) website was scoured for ACGME accredited neurological surgery residency programs. Program websites were searched for criteria such as program overview, application information (such as USMLE requirement and deadlines), curriculum information, current residents, alumni, faculty, and resident benefits. A total of 48 criteria were searched for on each website. Small programs were defined as one or two residents per class, while large programs were classified as those with three or four residents per class. Differences in content were analyzed between the top 20 and remaining programs.
Results: 122 American Association of Neurological Surgery accredited Neurological Surgery residency programs were analyzed. The most prevalent information provided about residency programs was the Neurosurgery Residency overview, names of faculty members, and names of current residents respectively. Top-20 neurological surgery residency program websites, as per the Doximity Residency Navigator, were more likely to include post PGY 7 fellowships (90% vs. 61% p = -0.0108), virtual reality in the OR experience (35% vs. 12% p = -0.0160), and faculty research (90% vs. 62% p = -0.0182), relative to other programs.
Conclusion : This study is the first paper investigating neurological residency program website content after the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors report broad variability in content provided by various neurosurgical training programs. Top neurosurgery programs are more likely to include fellowship information, OR virtual reality experience, and faculty research than lower ranked programs.
