Evaluation of content and accessibility of hand fellowship websites.
BACKGROUND
Graduates of general, orthopedic, and plastic surgery residencies utilize web-based resources when applying for hand fellowship training. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accessibility and content of hand fellowship websites (HFWs).


METHODS
Websites of accredited hand surgery fellowships were eligible for study inclusion. HFWs were evaluated for comprehensiveness in the domains of education and recruitment. Website content was correlated with program characteristics via Fisher exact tests.


RESULTS
Fifteen plastic, 65 orthopedic, and 1 general surgery hand fellowships were analyzed. Seventy-four hand fellowships maintained an HFW (91 %). HFWs were not found for 3 plastic and 4 orthopedic hand programs (20 versus 6 %, p = 0.118). HFWs provided only half of all analyzed content (54 %-education and 49 %-recruitment). Orthopedic programs had more education content than plastic surgery programs (55 versus 44 %, p = 0.030). Programs in the South had more education content than programs in the Northeast (63 versus 47 %, p = 0.001), but not more than programs in the West (54 %) or Midwest (55 %). Larger programs with more fellows had greater education content than those with only one fellow (57 versus 49 %, p = 0.042). Programs affiliated with top-ranked medical schools had less education content than lower-ranked schools (48 versus 56 %, p = 0.045). No differences existed in recruitment content between programs.


CONCLUSIONS
Most hand surgery fellowships lack readily accessible and comprehensive websites. The paucity of online content suggests HFWs are underutilized as educational resources and future opportunity may exist to optimize these tools.
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 415 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA.
Jason
J
Silvestre
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York City, NY 100029-6574 USA.
Javier Z
JZ
Guzman
College of Medicine, University of Florida, 1600 SW Archer Rd., Gainesville, FL 32603 USA.
Joseph M
JM
Abbatematteo
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 415 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA.
Benjamin
B
Chang
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 415 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA.
L Scott
LS
Levin
Education; Fellowship; Hand; Orthopedic; Plastic; Surgery; Website