The Evolving Role of Instagram in General Surgery Residency Programs and Keys to Successful Use in Yours: Input from an Academic, Tertiary Referral Program

Introduction: Social media has been used as a resource for the dissemination of information in the medical profession. To date, information regarding Instagram use amongst general surgery residency programs is lacking. Our study seeks to detail the use of Instagram amongst general surgery residency programs and to provide suggestions for the practical and successful use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs.

Methords: We performed a cross-sectional search of general surgery residency program Instagram accounts through June 30, 2020. Descriptive details, the pattern of Instagram use by general surgery residency programs, and the use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs over time were investigated.

Results: Ninety-six (29.1%) of the 330 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) general surgery residency programs were identified on Instagram, of which 86 (89.6%) accounts had at least one post. Academic programs (N = 67; 77.9%) were the most common type of program to have an Instagram account (N = 67). The most popular category of posts was promotion of the residents and faculty. In terms of Instagram activity, nearly 20% of Instagram posts were made in the last three-month block of our study period. Using Pearson correlations, positive associations were found between the number of posts and number of followers (0.62, p < 0.0001), the number of posts and the number of likes (0.42, p < 0.0001) and the number of followers and the number of likes (0.78, p < 0.0001). None of these variables were significantly associated with region or program type.

Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first description of the use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs. Based on the pattern of use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs, we believe that there are five key elements to the successful use of Instagram by general surgery residency programs, including: Interact, Name, Promote, Utilize, and Team (INPUT).