An Evaluation of Burn Fellowship Program Websites’ Presence and Content

Abstract

Abstract Fellowship program websites pertaining to various subspecialties have been evaluated according to the amount and type of content they communicate to prospective applicants. This study aimed to evaluate what information specifically burn fellowship programs communicate through their websites and to what extent, if at all. In total, 10 of the 30 unique burn fellowship programs, American Burn Association (ABA)-verified or otherwise, identified through the ABA website did not have official websites which could be readily located at the time of data collection. Thus, 20 burn fellowship program websites were included in the analysis. Burn fellowship program websites were assessed according to 23 criteria relating to recruitment, education, and social life. On average, each website contained an average of 8.5 ± 2.6 criteria (range, 2-13), with all of them listing a program contact email/phone, and 95% containing a program description. Only 35% of programs listed the faculty, and a single program advertised alumni job placement. Neither the total number of fellows, the total number of clinical faculty, nor the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accreditation status were significantly associated with the amount or type of content. Geographic region was associated with a significant difference in the amount of education-related content. Fellowship program websites are important to prospective applicants when comparing programs and deciding where to apply. These results show where burn fellowship programs can increase the amount of publicly available information that applicants tend to find helpful in order to hopefully both diversify and tailor their applicant pool to those whose goals align with the programs’.