EP273 - Creation of Infographics for APDCRS Website and Social Media Among Fellowship Programs and Recently Matched Applicants: feasibility and engagement

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Purpose/Background: After an overhaul of the APDCRS website, a section for social media was created. For over a year, the section has been populated with a message “Coming soon!”. We noticed this gap and offered an idea to the chair of the APDCRS website committee. We believed that infographics of 1080 x 1080 pixels, with a 1:1 aspect ratio, such as what is used on Instagram, would be feasible to create and could capture a standard palette of information which resides under the APDCRS banner. Disseminating this information on the website and on APDCRS social media platforms (to be recirculated by others) serves as a marketing tool for programs and allows applicants to gain a “snapshot” understanding of the CRS fellowship programs, and who their teaching faculty will be. Additionally, congratulatory graphics of recently matched applicants' will allow programs to publicly welcome their future fellows to the CRS field and applicants to share their accomplishments with colleagues and loved ones.

Methods/Interventions: A free graphic design platform was used to develop infographic templates for colorectal surgery (CRS) fellowship programs and recently matched applicants. Program directors (PD) had the opportunity to complete a templated form at the Annual Meeting of the American Program Directors of Colon & Rectal Surgery (APDCRS). The QR code provided during the meeting was followed up with individual requests which linked to the same templated form which prompted for details such as location (city/state), teaching faculty, and program coordinator. From this, infographics were personalized and sent to PD for verification of accuracy. Another templated form was developed for recently matched applicants to CRS training programs. To assess feasibility, we objectively tracked creation time and response rate. Enthusiasm was assessed subjectively. Engagement was measured by responsiveness to queries and verification of accuracy time.

Results/Outcomes: Seventeen PDs of 72 in the United States completed the form (response rate = 23.6%). Infographics took on average 30 mins to create at the initiation of the project. After the first five were created and the templated form was optimized (Figure 1), they now take about 10 mins each. The verification process takes 24-48 hours, and we have subjectively noticed that PDs are enthusiastic and grateful for the creation.

Over the summer, we piloted a congratulatory infographic with the permission of two graduates from the Pacific Northwest.

Conclusion/Discussion: Although the response rate has been low to date, we believe that when the graphics are integrated into the APDCRS website, we will see an uptick in form completion. We are also excited to pilot the “recently matched” templated form this fall (Figure 2). Congratulatory infographics may help mitigate the stress of the culmination of the application season by elevating a sense of community among program faculty, staff, applicants and trainees.