ABSTRACT
Objective: To describe the growth of #HowToNeuroTwitter, a collaborative social media initiative orienting neurology residency applicants to Twitter as an educational and networking platform. Background: During the initial 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and the virtual residency interview season in 2020, a group of medical students, neurology residents, and fellows came together to create a #HowToNeuroTwitter guide and the #NeuroTwitterNetwork. With a continued virtual recruitment in 2021, the guide was expanded to provide more comprehensive and inclusive resources for all types of neurology applicants. Design/Methods: A group of 48 medical students, residents, fellows, and attendings created and promoted the updated guide between May 2021 - August 2021. Twitter was the primary method of promotion and recruitment. Based on feedback from the initial guide, we created new resources to include DO, IMG, and fellowship applicants in addition to residency resources. This was accomplished with the creation of topical subsections. Results: The comprehensive #HowToNeuroTwitter (bit.ly/NeuroTwitterNetwork2) guide was released on August 22nd, 2021 on Twitter, with a tweet that generated 91,082 impressions, 2,739 engagements, 1,137 link clicks to the guide, 180 likes, and 151 retweets as of October 4th, 2021. The guide was broken down into 12 sections including applying to residency, residency program twitter accounts, #MedEd resources, organizations to follow, the #NeuroTwitterNetwork database, child neurology resources, and more. Thirty organizations were catalogued, including subspecialty specific accounts, research journals, and national organizations. There were 111 adult neurology and 18 child neurology residency Twitter accounts included. Conclusions: The #HowToNeuroTwitter Guide 2.0 increased access to high yield information for medical students and residents applying to neurology by developing a centralized resource for trainees at all levels along with a diverse database of neurologists on Twitter.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To understand the impact of a novel social media guide, #HowToNeuroTwitter, on how neurology applicants and residency programs utilize Twitter throughout the 2020-2021 neurology residency application process. Background: Due to COVID-19 and the unprecedented changes to neurology residency interview season, a team of neurology trainees initiated a grassroots effort to highlight #NeuroTwitterNetwork through the creation of a comprehensive guide: #HowToNeuroTwitter. Design/Methods: Participants self-enrolled through a publicly available virtual form, recruited through Twitter, alternative social media platforms, and online forums. The first edition of the #HowToNeuroTwitter guide was published in August 2020. Results: The first edition of the #HowToNeuroTwitter Guide featured 462 registered users, composed of 122 medical students, 158 neurology residents/fellows, and 182 attending physicians. The guide launched on August 9th, 2020 in a Twitter post generating 29,874 impressions, 4,443 engagements, 1,242 link clicks, 207 likes, and 160 retweets. A unique hyperlink, "bit.ly/NeuroTwitterNetwork" allowing for monitoring of guide utilization, is currently at >1800 interactions. Following inaugural release, a utilization survey was completed by 31 individuals with 30 of 31 rating the guide >/= 8 out of 10. Respondents stated primary uses of the guide included identifying other neurologists, medical education leaders, and neurological organization Twitter accounts with which to interact. A noted correlation following the release of the #HowToNeuroTwitter guide and amplification of the "#NeuroTwitterNetwork" hashtag was the increase by 204% of neurology residency programs (n=24 to n=73) and 142% of 4th year US medical students self-identifying as neurology applicants (n=29 to n=70) on Twitter. Conclusions: A trainee driven initiative to increase Twitter utilization as a networking, recruitment, and educational tool has led to the creation of a novel social media guide, spurring the utilization of Twitter by neurologists. Given our demonstration of feasibility and reach, national organizations in neurology should consider adopting this activity to advocate for medical students considering neurology training.