Social media use in residency recruitment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT

To investigate the extent to which dermatology programs use social media to connect with applicants, we conducted a search of all 140 residency programs on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Our search revealed 74 (53%) Instagram, 21 (15%) Facebook, 20 (14%) Twitter, and four (3%) YouTube accounts for dermatology programs, with the number of Instagram accounts increasing five-fold from the end of 2019 to present. Our results demonstrate that conditions created during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic accelerated dermatology residency programs' acceptance of social media, particularly Instagram, as a means to communicate and share information with applicants.