Factors Associated with Social
Media Links in Family Medicine
Residency Websites
Ronald L. Fong
Department of Family & Community Medicine
Gen Y/Millennials
• US medical school graduate, median age
between 26-27 years.
• Gen Y largest segment of applicant pool.
Background
• AAFP index of residency programs.
• 474 programs listed; 396 with active links to
websites and complete data.
• Location and settings.
• Program size, electronic tools, EHR.
• Program directors.
SoMe
•
•
•
•
•
•
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Google+
YouTube
Table 1. Baseline characteristics of studied residency programs
Setting, %
Inner-city
2.3
Suburban
34.4
Rural
19.4
Urban
43.9
Region, %
Northeast
20.7
Midwest
29.6
South
28.8
West
21.0
Administration type, %
Community-based, medical school-administered
21.0
Community-based, medical school-affiliated
61.1
Community-based, non-affiliated
Medical school based
7.1
10.9
Entering resident class size, %
<6
14.1
6-10
73.2
> 10
12.6
Provision of electronic tools to residents, %
Yes
22.2
No
77.8
Computer documentation, %
Yes
96.2
No
3.8
Electronic health record, %
Yes
89.9
No
10.1
Program director
Female %
Male %
29.0
71.0
Mean years of board certification (SD)
20.2 (8.5)
Table 2. Percentage of Programs with Specific Social Media Links
Facebook
57.6
Twitter
49.0
YouTube
35.4
LinkedIn
12.4
Google+
11.1
Pinterest
6.8
Results
• ~ 40% of programs had no SoMe links.
• Community-based, medical school-affiliated
programs most likely to have FB link (OR=1.87,
95% CI 1.08-3.24, p=0.25).
• West least likely to have YouTube link (OR=0.31,
95% CI 0.15-0.66, p=0.002).
• West Google+ (OR=3.71,95% CI 1.21-11.45,
p=0.022).
• Increasing length BC for PD, more likely YouTube
(OR=1.03, CI 1.00-1.06, p=0.047).