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Evaluating the Content of FPMRS Fellowship Websites After COVID

Presenting Author(s)

Ashni Nadgauda, MD

Resident Physician
Reading Hospital - Tower Health
Reading, Pennsylvania, United States

Co-Author(s)

AH

Ava R. Hansen, BA

Medical Student
Drexel University College of Medicine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
HD

Hannah Daley, BS

Medical Student
Drexel University College of Medicine
Philadephia, Pennsylvania, United States
PS

Peter F. Schnatz, DO

Program Director, Associate Chair
Reading Hospital - Tower Health
West Reading, Pennsylvania, United States

Objectives: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many residency and fellowship programs, including Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS), have transitioned to a solely virtual interview cycle. Online resources, such as fellowship program websites, are an important resource for fellowship applicants. The objective of this study was to assess what information is available on FPMRS fellowship websites in 2023 following the advent of COVID-19 leading to virtual interviews and whether website content varies by geographic region in the United States (US).

Methods: All Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (AGCME) accredited FPMRS programs in the US accepting obstetrics and gynecology residency graduates were included in this study (n=56). Google search engine was used to locate 56 fellowship websites. Two reviewers searched 56 websites to assess for 31 criteria relating to program description, program director contact information, application and interview process, fellow/ faculty/ alumni information, fellow benefits, and surgical education. Programs were grouped into geographic areas (northeast, west, mid-west, south) with percent of criteria met calculated for each region. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare individual criteria met among regions and z-test of independent proportions was used to compare average criteria met between programs of two separate regions.

Results: All 56 FPMRS programs included in the study had a fellowship program website. The majority of websites (98%, n=55) included content regarding program overview and description. Less than 10% of websites included content on surgical volume (7%, n=4), surgery simulations (9%, n=5), and current fellow research projects (9%, n=5). Faculty information (91%, n=51) was more commonly included on websites than fellow (84%, n=47) and alumni (36%, n=21) information. Less than half of programs included information regarding vacation (n=20), call schedule (n=20), curriculum rotation (n=19), or fellowship benefits (n=27). Programs in the northeast were more likely to include information on surgical volume and surgical simulations than programs in the west, mid-west, or south (p< 0.05). There were no significant differences of the average number of criteria met by websites between geographic regions. Average criteria met among all programs was 57%.

Conclusions: With the shift to virtual interview cycles for fellowship applications following the COVID-19 pandemic, FPMRS fellowship websites have become a vital source of information relating to fellowship applications. Websites can improve quality of content by increasing the description of surgical volume, surgical simulations, and current fellows’ research projects. Compared to a study assessing FPMRS websites in May 2020, FPMRS websites in 2023 have increased the total amount of information available on their websites, which may reflect the increasing online presence of the fellowship application cycle.