ABSTRACT
COVID-19 significantly impacted the residency match process. Away rotations and in-person interviews were canceled in 2021, resulting in a geographic shift in integrated plastic surgery match results. Although several of these limitations were lifted during the 2022 cycle, the resulting geographic outcomes have yet to be described. This study aims to determine whether the changes seen during the previous cycle persisted despite loosened restrictions. Methods: Integrated plastic surgery match results and applicants' home institutions from the 2022 match cycle were determined using publicly available data. Geographic data from this cycle were then compared with pre-COVID-19 match cycles (2016-2020) and the COVID-19-affected 2021 match cycle. Results: Eighty percent (n = 68) of US integrated plastic surgery programs were included in this study. In 2022, 18.42% of applicants matched at their home institution compared with 25.12% in 2021. There was no significant difference in home, state, or regional match rates between 2022 and the five cycles preceding the pandemic (2016-2020). Combining these data to reflect the non-COVID-19-affected cycles (2016-2020 and 2022) and comparing to the COVID-19-affected cycle (2021), a significant difference in rates of home matches (P = 0.0395) was identified. Conclusions: A significant increase in home institution match rates was not noted during the 2022 cycle. This return to pre-COVID-19 rates is likely attributed to the loosening of restrictions and more opportunities for interaction between applicants and programs outside of their home institution.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: TikTok is one of the most popular and fastest-growing social media apps in the world. Previous studies have analyzed the quality of patient education information on older video platforms, but the quality of plastic and cosmetic surgery videos on TikTok has not yet been determined. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the source and quality of certain cosmetic procedure videos on TikTok. METHODS: The TikTok mobile application was queried for content related to 2 popular face procedures (rhinoplasty and blepharoplasty) and 2 body procedures (breast augmentation and abdominoplasty). Two independent reviewers analyzed video content according to the DISCERN scale, a validated, objective instrument that assesses the quality of information on a scale of 1 to 5. Quality scores were compared between videos produced by medical and nonmedical creators and between different content categories. RESULTS: The included videos attracted 4.8 billion views and 76.2 million likes. Videos were created by medical doctors (56%) and laypersons (44%). The overall average DISCERN score out of 5 corresponded to very poor video quality for rhinoplasty (1.55), blepharoplasty (1.44), breast augmentation (1.25), and abdominoplasty (1.29). DISCERN scores were significantly higher among videos produced by doctors than by laypersons for all surgeries. Comedy videos consistently had the lowest average DISCERN scores, whereas educational videos had the highest. CONCLUSIONS: It is increasingly important that medical professionals understand the possibility of patient misinformation in the age of social media. We encourage medical providers to be involved in creating quality information on TikTok and educate patients about misinformation to best support health literacy.