The Impact of Social Media on Applicants' Perceptions of Plastic Surgery Training Programs.

OBJECTIVE: Given recent COVID-19 restrictions on in-person visiting subinternships and interviews, this study sought to evaluate the program information that was most influential to future plastic surgery applicants as they researched residency programs on social media. DESIGN AND SETTING: An electronic survey targeting medical students interested in plastic surgery was deployed to assess the importance of various information sources in forming perceptions of residency programs. Applicants were invited to participate through an Instagram "Story" (where the survey was embedded) and through an electronic survey link sent via email to interested program applicants and interviewees. PARTICIPANTS AND RESULTS: There were 83 respondents, among which 92% were current medical students planning to apply to Plastic Surgery. The most utilized resources that informed program interest were: mentors (86%), peers/partners (60%), and geographic location preference (55%). Among social media content, applicants most desired posts about resident life (66%) and team bonding activities (61%). Overall, 72% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that social media played a role in informing their interest to apply to a specific residency program. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that prospective plastic surgery applicants expect programs to have a social media presence, and thus, programs should invest time and thought in their social media strategy. While electronic sources are not the most important sources of information rated among applicants, social media plays an influential role in guiding interest in specific programs. To best inform applicant perspectives during the recruiting process, programs should prioritize content that gives a picture of "resident life" and team dynamics.

Extended Reality International Grand Rounds: An Innovative Approach to Medical Education in the Pandemic Era.

PROBLEM: While bedside training has always presented its own unique challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic era has intensified barriers to suitable provider and trainee experiences for both patient care and medical education. APPROACH: This project introduced an innovative solution with the Extended Reality International Grand Rounds, a collaboration between the University of Michigan Center for Medical and Surgical Extended Reality and Imperial College London. Three complex cases were presented to trainees through a wireless, extended reality (XR) headset and augmented by holographic visual aids and expert commentary. This pilot rounding experience was performed through the first-person view of one clinician at the bedside. OUTCOMES: In 2020, 140 attendees participated in XR International Grand Rounds, and 82 (59%) and 61 (44%) completed pre- and postsurveys, respectively. Survey analysis showed that the majority of respondents (65, 79.3%) had very little to no baseline experience with XR technologies and nearly all (75, 91.5%) agreed that the development and implementation of XR curricula are important in medical training, indicating an unmet need. Nearly all respondents (59, 96.7%) found value in the ability to visualize patients' clinical findings in the XR rounding experience and 60 (98.4%) found value in the ability to visualize patient-specific imaging and test findings in an XR format. Limiting exposure to high-risk patients and care team members with this innovative format was believed to be important to 79 (96.3%) respondents at baseline and that perception was unchanged following the event. NEXT STEPS: This solution to a long-standing dilemma, newly stressed by a unique era in medicine, was a successful collaboration using state-of-the-art XR technology. Next steps will include introducing more advanced physical exam visualization and detection and comprehensive evaluation of the patient experience, as well as expanding the international experience in a format that is scalable to other interested institutions.

International Mixed Reality Immersive Experience: Approach via Surgical Grand Rounds.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 created unintended but significant experiential barriers for surgical learners to interact at the bedside for teaching/case presentations. We hypothesized that an international grand rounds using the Microsoft HoloLens 2 extended reality (XR) headset would create an improved bedside-learning experience compared to traditional grand rounds formats. STUDY DESIGN: From December 2020 to March 2021, the world's first 2 international mixed reality grand rounds events using the HoloLens 2 headset were held, broadcasting transatlantically (between the University of Michigan and the Imperial College of London) bedside rounding experiences on 5 complex surgical patients to an international audience of 325 faculty, residents, and medical trainees. Participants completed pre- and post-event surveys to assess their experience. RESULTS: Of the 325 participants, 267 (80%) completed pre-surveys, and 95 (29%) completed both the pre- and post-surveys. Respondents (average age, 38 y; 44% women, 56% men; 211 US, 56 UK) included 92 (34%) medical students and residents and 175 faculty and staff. In the pre-event survey, 76% had little or no earlier experience with XR devices, and 94% thought implementation of XR into medical curricula was valuable. In the post-survey, 96% thought telerounding using XR technology was important for the current era, and 99% thought the ability to visualize the examination, imaging, and laboratory results at bedside via XR rounding was highly valuable and that this format was superior to traditional grand rounds. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all of the participants in the mixed reality international grand rounds felt the immersive XR experiences-allowing visualization of clinical findings, imaging, and laboratory results at the patient's bedside-were superior to a traditional grand rounds format, and that it could be a valuable tool for surgical teaching and telerounding.