An evaluation of the content of hematology and medical oncology fellowship websites

Muhammad Zain Farooq; Muhammad Daniyal; Palvisha Qasim; Houria Jamshed; Shehzeen Fatima Memon; Yumna Salman; Bushra Zafar Sayeed; Maham Abbasi; Michael Jaglal

doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104079

An evaluation of the content of hematology and medical oncology fellowship websites

Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2022 Jul 1:80:104079. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104079. eCollection 2022 Aug.

Authors

Muhammad Zain Farooq¹, Muhammad Daniyal², Palvisha Qasim³, Houria Jamshed³, Shehzeen Fatima Memon³, Yumna Salman³, Bushra Zafar Sayeed³, Maham Abbasi³, Michael Jaglal⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hematology/Oncology- Moffitt Cancer Center. Fellow at University of South Florida, 525 South Lincoln Avenue, Unit B102, Tampa, FL, 3360, USA.
² Department of Internal Medicine, United Medical and Dental College, UMDC Road, Sector 48H Korangi Creek, Karachi, Pakistan.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, aba-e-Urdu Road, Karachi, 74200, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Hematology/Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center, Associate Program Director of Hematology/Oncology at University of South Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center, 12902 USF Magnolia Drive, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA.

Abstract

Introduction: The growing demand for Hematology and Oncology services has greatly piqued the interest of potential residents towards this specialty. Since the programs' official websites are now becoming the primary source of information that potential residents turn to, we aimed to analyze program websites' content and availability across parameters that have been used by evaluators of websites.

Methods: & Materials: A list of 181 fellowship programs were identified using The Fellowship and Residency Electronic and Interactive Database (FRIEDA). 160/181 were accessed via a hyperlink or Google search. Content of these websites was evaluated on a 40-point criteria system in 10 distinct domains. Websites without accessible links were excluded from the search.

Results: The 160 programs were divided based on the region with the North-East having the most programs (32.5%) and the West having the least programs (12.4%). Exactly 3/4th of the websites had been updated with the latest available information. "Program overview" (89%) was the most common domain present on the websites while "Alumni" was the least common, present on only (25%) of the websites.

Conclusion: When compared with previous similar research, there have been a few significant improvements across the programs' websites, however many still lack important information regarding certain domains. The content and availability of the program's website can encourage or deter an applicant, in their decision to apply to the program, hence making it necessary for programs to augment their websites.

Keywords: Career opportunities; Fellowship programs; Graduate medical education; Hematology; Medical oncology; Website content.