Ideas and Innovations to Improve the Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Residency Application and Selection Process

Salehi, Parsa P; Heiser, Alyssa; Salehi, Pauniz; Manes, R. Peter; Judson, Benjamin L.; Azizzadeh, Babak; Lee, Yan Ho

doi:10.1177/0194599820961989

Cited by 17 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…5,31-33,40 Namely, the program specific paragraph and Otolaryngology Resident Talent Assessment telephone interview requirements. 1,5 Given that the decline in applicants coincided temporally with the aforementioned mandates, it is reasonable to attribute part of the decline to such policies. 5,31,32,40 It is unlikely coincidental that applicant volume rebounded after these mandates became optional in 2018.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…9 It also highlights the importance of OTO-HNS leadership maintaining a welcoming, inclusive environment for prospective students. 1,42 Programs considering implementing changes to their application process should proceed carefully, in collaboration with prospective students. 1,35…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1,42 Programs considering implementing changes to their application process should proceed carefully, in collaboration with prospective students. 1,35…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…29 Hence, our findings should not be used to extrapolate quality of residents/applicants based purely on the aforementioned objective characteristics. While there is a growing interest in applying holistic evaluations to the residency selection process, 1 further studies examining applicant qualities associated with successful resident performance and surgical aptitude are needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Successfully matching into Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OTO-HNS) remains competitive, 1 with a match rate as low as 66.1% in recent years. 2 Yet, lately there have been significant fluctuations in the overall volume of applicants to the specialty.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Otolaryngology Applicant Characteristics and Trends: Comparing OTO-HNS with Peer Specialties

Salehi

Heiser

Salehi

et al. 2021

Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol

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Purpose: To evaluate the recent Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OTO-HNS) applicant characteristics, to identify which applicant characteristics are associated with successful match into OTO-HNS, and to compare OTO-HNS applicant trends and characteristics to that of peer surgical specialties (PS). Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from official reports by the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) for OTO-HNS, plastic and reconstructive surgery, orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, and dermatology from 2006 to 2019. Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) membership, United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores, research productivity, graduation from a top-40 NIH-funded U.S. medical school, and additional graduate degree were recorded. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated to evaluate the relationship between applicant qualifications and match success. Results: From 2014 to 2018, the OTO-HNS applicant pool shrunk from 443 to 333, representing the largest drop of all PS. Furthermore, OTO-HNS reported the most unfilled positions and highest match rates in 2017 (n = 14; 92.1%) and 2018 (n = 12; 94.6%) among any PS. Despite recent trends, 2019 NRMP data revealed a 38.74% increase in OTO-HNS applicant numbers compared to 2018. AOA membership (OR, 7.3; P = .030), USMLE Step 2 scores between 241 and 260 (OR, 6.5; P = .009), and research productivity (OR, 5.6; P = .005) significantly increased the odds of matching into OTO-HNS. Conclusions: Despite recent fluctuations in application trends, OTO-HNS continues to successfully match highly qualified applicants, including applicants with AOA membership, high Step 2 scores, and high research productivity. An understanding of the qualifications used to evaluate residency applicants may be helpful to both applicants and residency programs of OTO-HNS.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1,42 Programs considering implementing changes to their application process should proceed carefully, in collaboration with prospective students. 1,35…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Otolaryngology Applicant Characteristics and Trends: Comparing OTO-HNS with Peer Specialties

Salehi

Heiser

Salehi

et al. 2021

Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol

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Concerns Regarding a National Otolaryngology Residency Interview Calendar

Salehi

Torabi

Lee

2021

JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg

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In Reply We appreciate the interest in our article showing the high incidence and potential mechanisms of tracheal lesions in patients affected by coronavirus disease 2019 during the first wave of the pandemic in our tertiary referral hospital in Italy. 1 We appreciate also the Letter to the Editor by Dr Balakrishnan and colleagues and the attention our work has received in the medical community, media, and social networks.The first goal of our work was to alert all health professionals involved in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 subjected to invasive mechanical ventilation of the potential lesions that could occur in the trachea and propose some possible solutions to prevent these complications. We thank Dr Balakrishnan and his colleagues for raising another important issue: interprofessional collaboration is of paramount importance to minimize or even eliminate airway injuries. As a matter of fact, the cuff pressure monitoring, the periodic bronchoscopy, and time and technique of tracheostomy are aspects that must be discussed in the airway team, consisting of otolaryngologists-head and neck surgeons, intensivists, pulmonologists, nurses, and allied health professionals. 2,3 In fact, during the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, we recorded a drastic drop in the incidence of tracheal complications in our hospital. We think this is due to the experience gained during the first wave in our center and worldwide, 4,5 and the creation of the airway team. 3 This will be the subject of further studies. Moreover, the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in the second wave was quite different from the first wave. As a matter of fact, there is no longer the rush to mechanically ventilate these patients, so the number of patients who need to be hospitalized in an intensive care unit setting and the number of intubated patients who need many days of invasive mechanical ventilation have also been reduced, also thanks to the current protocols.We hope that our work will stimulate other centers to report their experiences to identify possible mechanisms of on-set of these complications and possible solutions to be adopted to avoid them. Unfortunately, we know how difficult it is to report negative experiences, but this must be done with the perspective of improving our medical knowledge and treating our patients better. This is the real challenge.

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