Utilization of Instagram by Ophthalmology Residency Programs in the Era of COVID-19

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this research is to describe the use of the social media platform, Instagram, by academic ophthalmology residency programs in the United States over time and consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ophthalmology’s social media presence.

Methods and Subjects

This cross-sectional study was conducted online by reviewing the publicly accessible Instagram accounts of all accredited US academic ophthalmology residency programs.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Number of US ophthalmology residency programs with an affiliated Instagram account were analyzed by year of creation. The content of the top six accounts with the most followers was analyzed by evaluating amount of engagement within defined post categories.

Results

Of the 124 ophthalmology residency programs, 78 (62.9%) were identified as having an affiliated Instagram account, 60 accounts (48.4%) were created during the years 2020 or 2021, and 62 (50.0%) accounts focused specifically on promoting the residency training program. Of the top six accounts with the most followers, post categories that received the most engagement were “Medical” and “Group Photo”, while those that received the least engagement were “Department Bulletin” and “Miscellaneous.” User engagement on posts as measured by likes and comments increased across multiple post categories after January 2020.

Conclusion

Social media presence of ophthalmology residency programs on Instagram increased substantially in 2020 and 2021. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic restricting in-person interactions, residency programs have used alternative platforms to reach applicants. Given the increasing use of such applications, social media will likely continue to become an important aspect of professional engagement in ophthalmology.

Keywords:

• social media
• medical education
• ophthalmology
• ophthalmology residency

Acknowledgments

We thank Albert Chen for his expertise and assistance with the Python script.

Disclosure

Dr. Vivian Lee reports grants from NIH, endowment that supports research from Yanoff Endowment Fund, during the conduct of the study; personal fees from GSK, outside the submitted work. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.