Evaluating ACGME-accredited addiction psychiatry fellowship online content: A critical analysis of addiction psychiatry fellowship program websites in the US

Abstract

Introduction: There is an extreme shortage of addiction psychiatrists and a lack of representation of addiction psychiatry (ADP) fellows from racial/ethnic minoritized backgrounds. ADP fellowship websites are integral in engaging potential applicants. It is therefore critical to understand the quality of engagement that trainees are having with ADP fellowship websites. The aim of this study was to investigate the accessibility and content of ADP fellowship program websites in the U.S. Methods: A list of ADP Fellowship programs was obtained from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. A critical textual analysis of 42 unique factors within four categories (accessibility, recruitment, education, and health equity) was performed for each ADP fellowship website. Results: Of 51 ADP fellowships, 47 (92.2%) had websites. Information about social media accounts was largely missing from ADP fellowship websites. For recruitment, program description (95.7%) and program director name (76.6%) were most readily available, while interview day (0.00%) and vacation details (10.6%) were least available. For education, a list of rotations (55.3%) and didactics/lectures (40.4%) were most readily available, while post fellowship placement (6.4%), call schedule (4.3%), and responsibility progression (2.1%) were least available. The most prevalent health equity factors were gender-inclusive language (100%) and an absence of stigmatizing addiction language (100%). The least listed were statements of commitment to health equity (0.0%), antiracism training (2.1%), and harm-reduction strategies (4.3%). Conclusions: There are considerable gaps in the amount and types of information provided by ADP fellowship websites. Many existing websites are poorly interfacing with potential leaders in the field. The development of ADP fellowship websites could serve as a low-cost recruitment tool to engage potential addiction specialists. Our findings underscore the need for ADP fellowships to optimize their websites to engage bourgeoning leaders in addiction and optimize access to more comprehensive information.

Keywords:

• Substance use
• addiction
• addiction psychiatry
• social media
• websites
• addiction psychiatry fellowships
• fellowships
• health equity
• recruitment
• Graduate Medical Education

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Melissa Yuan, Carlos Schmidt Padilla, and Casey Smith for their support during the early stages of the project.

Author contributions

MA and AJ conceived the idea for the study. MA developed the initial statistical plan and EL improved the design and conducted the statistical analyses. MA and AK led the qualitative analyses. MA, EL, and AJ led manuscript writing. All authors, MPA, EL, DJ, AA, AK, and AJ provided critical feedback and contributed to the writing of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

None of the authors report a conflict of interest. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the University of Central Florida, New York University, University of California San Francisco or any academic affiliates.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) from SAMHSA by grant no. 5H79TI081358-02. The views expressed in written in this manuscript do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government. Supporting organizations had no further role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.