title: How Useful are Orthopedic Surgery Residency Web Pages?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Medical students interested in orthopedic surgery residency positions frequently use the Internet as a modality to gather information about individual residency programs. Students often invest a painstaking amount of time and effort in determining programs that they are interested in, and the Internet is central to this process. Numerous studies have concluded that program websites are a valuable resource for residency and fellowship applicants. The purpose of the present study was to provide an update on the web pages of academic orthopedic surgery departments in the United States and to rate their utility in providing information on quality of education, faculty and resident information, environment, and applicant information.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed existing websites for the 156 departments or divisions of orthopedic surgery that are currently accredited for resident education by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Each website was assessed for quality of information regarding quality of education, faculty and resident information, environment, and applicant information.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We noted that 152 of the 156 departments (97%) had functioning websites that could be accessed. There was high variability regarding the comprehensiveness of orthopedic residency websites. Most of the orthopedic websites provided information on conference, didactics, and resident rotations. Less than 50% of programs provided information on resident call schedules, resident or faculty research and publications, resident hometowns, or resident salary.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a lack of consistency regarding the content presented on orthopedic residency websites. As the competition for orthopedic websites continues to increase, applicants flock to the Internet to learn more about orthopedic websites in greater number. A well-constructed website has the potential to increase the caliber of students applying to a said program.
authors.affiliation: Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria (UICOMP), Peoria, Illinois.
authors.forename: Lasun O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Oladeji
authors.affiliation: Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
authors.forename: Jonathan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: College of Arts and Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Afolayan K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Oladeji
authors.affiliation: Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama. Electronic address: bponce@uabmc.edu.
authors.forename: Brent A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Ponce
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007396:Internship and Residency; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000193:education*
keywords: Interpersonal and Communication Skills; Medical Knowledge; Professionalism; graduate medical education; national residency match program; orthopedic residency; recruitment; residents; web page