General surgery residency program websites: usefulness and usability for resident applicants.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the content of general surgery residency program websites, the websites' potential as tools in resident recruitment, and their "usability."


METHODS
The homepages of general surgery residency programs were evaluated for accessibility, ease-of-use, adherence to established principles of website design, and content. Investigators completed a questionnaire on aspects of their online search, including number of mouse-clicks used, number of errors encountered, and number of returns to the residency homepage.


METHODS
The World Wide Web listings on the Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA) of the American Medical Association (AMA).


METHODS
A total of 251 ACGME-accredited general surgery residency programs.


RESULTS
One hundred sixty-seven programs (67%) provided a viable link to the program's website. Evaluators found an average of 5.9 of 16 content items; 2 (1.2%) websites provided as many as 12 content items. Five of the 16 content items (program description, conference schedules, listing of faculty, caseload, and salary) were found on more than half of the sites. An average of 24 mouse-clicks was required to complete the questionnaire for each site. Forty-six sites (28%) generated at least 1 error during our search. The residency homepage was revisited an average of 5 times during each search. On average, programs adhered to 6 of the 10 design principles; only 6 (3.6%) sites adhered to all 10 design principles. Two of the 10 design principles (use of familiar fonts, absence of frames) were adhered to in more than half of the sites. Our overall success rate when searching residency websites was 38%.


CONCLUSIONS
General surgery residency programs do not use the World Wide Web optimally, particularly for users who are potential residency candidates. The usability of these websites could be increased by providing relevant content, making that content easier to find, and adhering to established web design principles.
Reilly
Eugene F
EF
Department of Surgery, Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, Pennsylvania, USA.
Leibrandt
Thomas J
TJ
Zonno
Alan J
AJ
Simpson
Mary Christina
MC
Morris
Jon B
JB
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D002321:Career Choice; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration; D013502:General Surgery / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration; D007586:Job Application; D008389:Marketing of Health Services / Q000379:methods; D010560:Personnel Selection / Q000379:methods; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload