Abstract
Objective
Radiology residents review information available on fellowship program websites for shortlisting programs and for applying for fellowships. The aim of this study was to evaluate the comprehensiveness of musculoskeletal (MSK) fellowship program websites.
Methods
The content of US and Canadian MSK fellowship program websites was evaluated using 25 distinct criteria in the following domains: application, recruitment, research, clinical, education, clinical work, benefits. Programs without websites were excluded from analysis.
Results
In Canada and the USA, there were 100 MSK fellowship programs, 90 of them having dedicated websites. The average score across all programs was 9.5/25 or 38%. The most comprehensive program included 18/25 items or 72%. The least comprehensive program included only 1/25 items or 4%. The median score across all programs was 9/25 or 36%.More programs included information on the application process (65.5/90, 72.8%; SD 24.7%) than in education/research (24/90, 26.7%; SD 17.3%) or incentives (12.5/90, 13.9%; SD 7.8%).Mean scores amongst US schools did not differ based on geographical distribution (p = 0.32), although they did by rank; schools ranked in the bottom tier scored lower than the unranked, middle, and top tier schools (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
The majority of MSK fellowship program websites are not comprehensive. Areas that needed the most improvement include incentives, education/research, clinical teaching, and recruitment information. Addressing these insufficiencies can help programs in easing the application process for prospective fellows and enhance recruitment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Glover M, Patel TY. The radiology fellowship arms race cannot be won. J Am Coll Radiol. 2016;13:461–4.
Bluth EI, Larson PA, Liebscher LA. Radiologist hiring preferences based on practice needs. J Am Coll Radiol. 2016;13:8–11.
Baker SR, Luk L, Clarkin K. The trouble with fellowships. J Am Coll Radiol. 2010;7:446–51.
Yablon CM, Jacobson JA, Flemming DJ, Carrino JA. Radiology fellowship with a focus on musculoskeletal imaging: current challenges and future directions. Am J Roentgenol. 2013;200:379–82.
Svider PF, Gupta A, Johnson AP, Zuliani G, Shkoukani MA, Eloy JA, et al. Evaluation of otolaryngology residency program websites. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2014;140:956–60.
Hefferman GM, Swenson DW, Ayyala RS, Murphy B, Johnson M, Jindal G. Information availability on emergency radiology fellowship websites: current state and paths to improvement. Emerg Radiol. 2019;26:295–9.
Novin S, Yi PH, Vanderplas T, Yim D, Hong K. Integrated interventional radiology residency program websites: a development in progress. Am J Roentgenol. 2018;211:211–6.
Sugrue G, Hamid S, Vijayasarathi A, Niu B, Nicolaou S, Khosa F. An evaluation of the content of Canadian radiology fellowship websites. Curr Probl Diagn Radiol. 2019;000:1–5.
Ruddell JH, Eltorai AEM, Mark AS, Raman S, Sams CM. What’s missing? An analysis of pediatric radiology fellowship website utility and recruitment potential. Pediatr Radiol. 2019;49:723–6.
Ruddell JH, Hartley-Blossom ZJ, Bajaj AI, Grand D, Eltorai AEM. Analysis of abdominal radiology fellowship website content and comprehensiveness. Abdom Radiol (NY). 2019;44:1601–5.
Khan MS, Hayat J, Marsia S, Yamani N, Doukky R, Butler J, et al. How well do we represent ourselves: an analysis of cardiology fellowships website content. Futur Cardiol. 2020. https://doi.org/10.2217/fca-2019-0015.
Lu F, Vijayasarathi A, Murray N, Hamid S, Khosa F. Evaluation of pediatric radiology fellowship website content in USA and Canada. Curr Probl Diagn Radiol. 2020;00:1–5. https://doi.org/10.1067/j.cpradiol.2020.01.007.
Gibney B, Redmond CE, Niu B, Hamid S, Kim G, O’Neill SB, et al. A comparative evaluation of cardiothoracic radiology fellowship website content. J Thorac Imaging. 2020;35:W82–6.
Gaeta TJ, Birkhahn RH, Lamont D, Banga N, Bove JJ. Aspects of residency programs’ web sites important to student applicants. Acad Emerg Med. 2005;12:89–92.
Mahler SA, Wagner MJ, Church A, Sokolosky M, Cline DM. Importance of residency program web sites to emergency medicine applicants. J Emerg Med. 2009;36:83–8.
Charalel RA, Pua BB, Galla N, Trehan SK, Madoff DC. Interventional radiology fellowship website content: what is the relevance to potential applicants? Clin Imaging. 2016;40:1070–4.
Census Bureau Regions and Divisions with State FIPS Codes Online.[Internet] [cited 2020 . Available from:https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf
The best medical schools for research, ranked [Internet]. 2018. Available from: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings?name=medical
Ahmad FA, White AJ, Hiller KM, Amini R, Jeffe DB. An assessment of residents’ and fellows’ personal finance literacy: an unmet medical education need. Int J Med Educ. 2017;8:192–204.
McNeeley MF, Perez FA, Chew FS. The emotional wellness of radiology trainees: prevalence and predictors of burnout. Acad Radiol. 2013;20:647–55.
Collier VU, McCue JD, Markus A, Smith L. Stress in medical residency: status quo after a decade of reform? Background: although curricular reforms have attempted to ad. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136:384–90.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adham, S., Nasir, M.U., Niu, B. et al. How well do we represent ourselves: an analysis of musculoskeletal radiology fellowships website content in Canada and the USA. Skeletal Radiol 49, 1951–1955 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-020-03481-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-020-03481-1