Do Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Program Websites and Instagram Accounts Address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

Background: An authentic, programmatic commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in plastic surgery is necessary to attract and retain a diverse workforce. Plastic surgery residency program websites and social media accounts are important sources of information about program values and culture for applicants, especially with the shift to virtual recruitment. Therefore, the authors sought to evaluate whether integrated plastic surgery residency programs address DEI through content on their websites and Instagram accounts.

Methods: Integrated plastic surgery residency programs were identified through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in December of 2021. The authors searched program websites and Instagram accounts for elements of DEI. The authors evaluated the impact of region, program director sex, and program director race on prevalence of DEI elements on websites using chi-square tests.

Results: A total of 82 integrated plastic surgery residency programs were identified. Overall, 40 (48%) program websites had at least one DEI element, and 10 (12.2%) were found to have three or more DEI elements. The number of DEI elements per program website did not vary by region, program director sex, or program director ethnicity. Among programs with Instagram accounts, 49 (65.3%) posted about women; 30 (40.0%) posted about racial/ethnic minority groups; and 25 (33.3%) posted about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or other sexual and gender identities.

Conclusions: Despite widely heralded DEI efforts in plastic surgery residency recruitment, relatively few programs address DEI online. Programs looking to recruit diverse applicants could benefit from increased DEI content on their websites and social media accounts.