Journal Article

Exploring the content of epilepsy fellowship program websites: an analysis of information available to applicants

Merchant, Rameez Ali, Mahmood Shah, Sayed Mustafa, Kamran, Alishba, Marsia, Shayan, Abbas, Shan E.

2024

Overview

Background Program websites are essential resources in the process of residency and fellowship application. We evaluated the information furnished on these resources by Epilepsy fellowship programs. The extent of information provided was compared across geographic zones, academic affiliation, and national ranking. Methods A list of Epilepsy fellowship programs was derived from the Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA). Links to program websites were obtained directly from FREIDA or using Google’s search engine. Online data was categorized to reflect program information, education, recruitment, compensation, epilepsy center-specific information, and social media presence. Data points under each category were collected to develop a standardized scoring system. The frequency of criterion present was compared across geographic zones, academic affiliation, and national ranking using parametric and non-parametric statistical tests. Significance was determined at a p-value ≤ 0.05 for all cases. The study utilized IBM SPSS version 28 and Python 3.11.3. Results We analyzed 80 Epilepsy fellowship programs. The most reported feature was the program director’s name and email (100.0%). The least reported features included board pass rates (1.3%), preparatory boot camp (8.8%), and post-fellowship placements (11.3%). Programs were found to be well-represented on X (88.8%), Facebook (81.3%), and Instagram (71.3%). Most (85.0%) of the programs were searchable through Google. The scores for program information, education, recruitment, compensation, epilepsy center-specific information, and social media visibility did not significantly vary based on location, academic affiliation, or rank status. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that despite an online presence, there is much room for improvement in the content available to the applicant. To improve the Match process and attract a roster of well-informed fellows, Epilepsy fellowship programs should furnish program websites with up-to-date information relevant to program information, education, recruitment, compensation, and epilepsy center-specific information.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Anatomy / Applicant resources / Data Analysis / Database Management Systems / Debt management / Education / Education, Medical, Graduate / Educational aspects / Epilepsy / Fellowship program / Fellowships / Fellowships and Scholarships / Graduate Medical Education / Hospitals / Humans / Information services / Information services industry / Internet / Internet/Web search services / Internship and Residency / Interviews / Medical Education / Medical research / Medicine, Experimental / Neurology / Neurophysiology / Neurosurgery / Normal distribution / Online Searching / Program Descriptions / Program evaluation / Rankings / Recruitment / Residents (Medicine) / Scholarships & fellowships / Social Media / Social networks / Theory of Medicine/Bioethics / Training / Wages & salaries / Web sites / Website analysis / Websites