Is Instagram Use Among Orthopaedic Surgery Programs Associated with Increased Residency Applicant Interest?

Introduction: Social media use among orthopaedic surgery residency programs has grown in popularity recently. Research in the field is novel but steadily growing. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Instagram use among orthopaedic surgery residency programs correlated with an increased number of residency applicants from 2020 to 2022.

Methods: Applicant data was extracted from AAMC Residency Tool Explorer. Instagram accounts for orthopaedic surgery residency programs, including residency and departmental profiles, were compiled. Engagement data (number of comments and likes) was obtained via Popster’s social media analytics program for business accounts or manually collected for non-business accounts. Likes were weighted as one point and comments were weighted as three points. Programs were included if they had Instagram accounts and AAMC applicant data for all three years.

Results: 172 Instagram accounts were identified for 153 (72.8%) orthopaedic surgery residency programs out of a total of 210 U.S. programs for the years 2020 to 2022. 129 accounts were active in 2020, 154 accounts in 2021, and 166 accounts in 2022. Across all accounts, mean engagement scores were 2,938 (range: 0-116,421), 3,391 (range: 0-98,532), and 3,482 (range 0-62,048), and average number of applicants were 636 (range = 38-1,337), 661 (range = 201-1,015), and 824 (range = 324-1,235) for each consecutive year 2020-2022. Instagram engagement score was weakly positively correlated to number of applicants for orthopaedic residency programs each year with increasing correlation seen each subsequent year (2020: r=0.15, p=0.06; 2021: r=0.18, p=0.02; 2022: r=0.20, p=0.01).

Conclusion : There appears to be a positive correlation between Instagram use among orthopaedic surgery residency programs and the number of residency applicants, with increasing correlation in more recent years. As the influence of social media to engage applicants among academic orthopaedic residency programs grows, the impact on residency application trends may continue to increase. Orthopaedic surgery residency programs can use Instagram to promote and increase applicant interest for their programs.