ABSTRACT
Introduction
This research explored Neurological Surgery Residency Programs' websites (NRPW) in the
United States and Canada to evaluate the information delivered to applicants regarding residency
programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical interaction is limited. The goal of this
study was to assess what data is available on NRPWs to applicants.
Methods
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) website was used to identify
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited neurological
surgery residency programs. 48 criteria were sought on each program's website, such as program
overviews, application information, curriculum information, current residents, alumni, faculty,
and resident benefits. Programs were classified as small (containing one or two residents per
class) or large (with three or four residents per class). Differences in content between the top 20
and remainder of programs, according to the Doximity Residency Navigator (DRN), were then
analyzed.
Results
The most common data provided for the 122 Neurosurgery Residency Programs (NRPWs) were
overviews of the program (95.1%), faculty members' names (95.1%), and current resident names
(94.3%). Websites of the top-20 neurosurgery residency programs, identified by DRN, featured
opportunities for post PGY 7 fellowships (90% as compared to 61%, p = -0.0108), virtual reality
in the OR experience (35% compared to 12%, p = -0.0160), and faculty research (90% vs. 62%,
p = -0.0182) more often than other programs.
Conclusions
The findings of this study suggest that top-rated neurosurgery residency programs are more
likely to provide website content on fellowship opportunities, virtual reality experiences, and
faculty research than lower-ranked programs after the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first
paper to examine the changes in content provided by neurosurgical training programs due to the
novel coronavirus outbreak.
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