Evaluation of sleep medicine fellowship program websites

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2-7-2023

Journal

Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

DOI

10.5664/jcsm.10506

Keywords

fellowship programs; graduate medical education; sleep medicine; website content

Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Sleep fellowship program websites likely serve as a preliminary source of information for prospective fellows. Arguably, applicants have likely become even more reliant on program websites during the COVID-19 pandemic due to travel restrictions and social distancing measures limiting in-person interviews. In this study, we evaluated the content and comprehensiveness of sleep medicine fellowship websites to identify areas of improvement. METHODS: A list of sleep medicine fellowship programs in the United States (US) participating in the 2021 match cycle was compiled using the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive database (FREIDA) websites. Twenty-two pre-specified content criteria related to education, recruitment, and compensation were used to evaluate each program website. Sleep programs' website comprehensiveness were compared based on US location, type, matching status, core specialty, and size of programs. RESULTS: Seventy-eight US sleep fellowship program websites were evaluated. Most program websites had a working hyperlink on ERAS or FREIDA. There was considerable variability in content reported across program websites with a mean of 56.8% of content items reported per program. There was a greater educational website content comprehensiveness for internal medicine compared to other specialty-based sleep programs. There was no difference in sleep programs' website comprehensiveness based on US location, type, matching status, or size of programs. CONCLUSIONS: Website content comprehensiveness amongst sleep fellowship programs is variable. There is opportunity for all sleep fellowship programs to improve their websites to better inform prospective trainees.

Department

Neurology

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