Social Media Adoption and Utilization by Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Programs and Implications for Remote Resident Recruitment

We aim to investigate the association of Instagram and Twitter (rebranded X) adoption by physical medicine and rehabilitation residencies with the number of National Resident Matching Program applications received in the 2020-2021 application cycle. Among 88 physical medicine and rehabilitation residency programs, 67 (77%) had Instagram accounts, 45 (51%) had Twitter accounts, and 41 (47%) had both. Forty (60%) Instagram accounts and 19 (42%) Twitter accounts were opened during the 2020-2021 application cycle, correlating with the introduction of virtual interviews and the COVID-19 pandemic. Residency programs with active Instagram or Twitter accounts had more National Resident Matching Program applications (F(2,85) = 7.49, P = 0.001). Simple main effects analysis showed that programs with an Instagram account (P = 0.03) or a Twitter account (P = 0.03) received more residency applications. In multivariate linear regression analysis including presence of an Instagram account, program size, program setting, and program region, the presence of a Twitter account (coefficient 37.3, P = 0.04, 95% confidence interval 1.71-72.96) and ≥16 residents in the residency program (coefficient 77.9, P < 0.001, 95% confidence interval 44.43-111.31) were positively correlated with the number of residency applications. In conclusion, residency programs that were larger and adopted Twitter had more applicants in 2020-2021. Future research is needed to determine how social media activity impacts residency applicant decision making.