Is Doximity the Correct Tool for Neurosurgery Applicants to Utilize to Learn About a Program’s Commitment to Research, Clinical Training and Female Inclusion?

Introduction: Doximity informs applicants on the quality and culture of neurosurgery residency programs. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the reliability of Doximity’s rankings and gender demographics.

Methods: Doximity’s reputation rankings were compared to rankings from US World News Report for Neurosurgery and Neurology Hospitals and rankings from Newsweek for World’s Best Specialized Hospitals in Neurosurgery. Doximity’s research rankings were placed in the context of NIH funding reported on Blue Ridge Institute of Medical Research, and H-indices of chairs and program directors reported by Elsevier’s SCOPUS. Doximity’s gender data was evaluated against residency program websites, American Medical Association (AMA), and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for verification. Gender data from program websites was manually collected by cross-referencing pronoun usage of residents. Programs were not included in each of the three analyses if they did not have full data. Data analysis was conducted via R (R version 4.4.1, www.r-project.org).

Results: Doximity reputation rankings were significantly correlated with US World News Report rankings (p=0.002), but not with Newsweek Rankings (p=0.48) which may be because Newsweek rankings are based off international surveys who may not be familiar with the US hospital systems whereas US World News Report rankings are based off national surveys. Better Doximity Research rankings were significantly correlated with the H-index of chairs (p= < 0.0001), and PDs (p=0.0001), as well as NIH funding (p=0.0001). Doximity’s data on gender was not significantly correlated with gender data from program websites (p=0.13). However, the gender data from program websites was significantly correlated

Conclusion : Doximity may be a reliable indicator of research and reputation for neurosurgery residency programs, but not for gender. It is imperative that reliable and comprehensive data be collected and reported for applicants to get insight into programs.