Objective. To examine whether there are gender disparities in scholarly productivity within academic otolaryngology departments, as measured by academic rank and the h-index, a published, objective measure of research contributions that quantifies the number and significance of papers published by a given author.Study Design and Setting. Analysis of bibliometric data of academic otolaryngologists.Methods. Faculty listings from academic otolaryngology departments were used to determine academic rank and gender. The Scopus database was used to determine h-index and publication range (in years) of these faculty members. In addition, 20 randomly chosen institutions were used to compare academic otolaryngologists to faculty members in other surgical specialties.Results. Mean h-indices increased through the rank of professor. Among academic otolaryngologists, men had significantly higher h-indices than women, a finding also noted on examination of faculty members from other specialties. Men had higher research productivity rates at earlier points in their career than women did. The productivity rates of women increased and equaled or surpassed those of men later in their careers. Men had higher absolute h-index values at junior academic ranks. Women academic otolaryngologists of senior rank had higher absolute h-indices than their male counterparts.Conclusions. The h-index measures research significance in an objective manner and indicates that although men have higher overall research productivity in academic otolaryngology, women demonstrate a different productivity curve. Women produce less research output earlier in their careers than men do, but at senior levels, they equal or exceed the research productivity of men. Keywordsgender, gender disparity, h-index, academic promotion, academic productivity, faculty productivity, surgical faculty productivity, academic physician scientific productivity, academic rank determination, academic rank in surgical specialties Received July 13, 2012; revised September 19, 2012; accepted October 8, 2012. T he proportion of women pursuing careers in medicine has dramatically increased, as women now comprise nearly half of US medical students.1-6 Although this trend is consistent with societal strides in gender equality, further examination among specific medical disciplines reveals notable demographic differences. Women have disproportionately entered primary care and nonsurgical careers, while surgical specialties have traditionally had difficulty recruiting and retaining female trainees. 3,[7][8][9] In addition, women are underrepresented in academic practice

Objective/Hypothesis: The h-index is an objective and easily calculable measure that can be used to evaluate both the relevance and amount of scientific contributions of an individual author. Our objective was to examine how the h-index of academic otolaryngologists relates with academic rank.Study Design: A descriptive and correlational design was used for analysis of academic otolaryngologists' h-indices using the Scopus database.Methods: H-indices of faculty members from 50 otolaryngology residency programs were calculated using the Scopus database, and data was organized by academic rank. Additionally, an analysis of the h-indices of departmental chairpersons among different specialties was performed.Results: H-index values of academic otolaryngologists were higher with increased academic rank among the levels of assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. There was no significant difference between the h-indices of professors and department chairpersons within otolaryngology. H-indices of chairpersons in different academic specialties were compared and were significantly different, suggesting that the use of this metric may not be appropriate for comparing different fields.Conclusions: The h-index is a reliable tool for quantifying academic productivity within otolaryngology. This measure is easily calculable and may be useful when evaluating decisions regarding advancement within academic otolaryngology departments. Comparison of this metric among faculty members from different fields, however, may not be reliable.

The overall incidence of SNSCC is declining. However, survival has not significantly improved in the last 3 decades. Race seems to influence the overall survival of this tumor. Future studies need to be conducted to investigate these dynamic trends related to SNSCC.

Patients with head and neck cancer have more than 3 times the incidence of suicide compared with the general US population. Furthermore, suicide rates were highest among those with cancers of the larynx and hypopharynx.

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