Securing an OTL-HNS residency: How competitive is it? Comparing medical student perceptions to actual Canadian statistics

Abstract

BackgroundThe residency match is an important event in an aspiring physician’s career. Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (OTL-HNS) is a surgical specialty that has enjoyed high numbers of applicants to its residency programs. However, recent trends in Canada show a decline in first-choice applicants to several surgical fields. Factors thought to influence a medical student’s choice include role models, career opportunities and work-life balance. The notion of perceived competitiveness is a factor that has not yet been explored. This study sought to compare competitiveness of OTL-HNS, as perceived by Canadian medical students to residency match statistics published yearly by CaRMS (Canadian Residency Matching Service), with the hope of informing future decisions of surgical residency programs.MethodsAn electronic survey was created and distributed to all medical students enrolled in the 17 Canadian medical schools. After gathering demographic information, students were asked to rank what they perceived to be the five most competitive disciplines offered by CaRMS. They were also asked to rank surgical specialties from most to least competitive. Publically available data from CaRMS was then collected and analyzed to determine actual competitiveness of admissions to Canadian OTL-HNS residency programs.Results1194 students, from first to fourth year of medical school, completed the survey. CaRMS statistics over the period from 2008 to 2014 demonstrated that the five most competitive specialties were Plastic Surgery, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Emergency Medicine and OTL-HNS. Among surgical disciplines, OTL-HNS was third most competitive, where on average 72% of students match to their first-choice discipline. When students were questioned, 35% ranked OTL-HNS amongst the top five most competitive. On the other hand 72%, 74% and 80% recognized Opthalmology, Dermatology and Plastic Surgery as being among the five most competitive, respectively. We found that fourth-year medical students were significantly more knowledgeable about the competitiveness of both OTL-HNS and Plastic Surgery compared to first-year students (p < 0.01).ConclusionOverall, Canadian medical students may underestimate the competitiveness of OTL-HNS. Furthermore, competitiveness would appear to be a concept that resonates with medical students during the match process.

Application rates to surgical residency programs in Canada

“…5,6 There have been a wide range of proposed explanations for the declining number of medical students matriculating into surgical residencies, including lifestyle, overall interest, the duration of training, lack of early surgical exposure, availability of positions upon completion of training and more. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] While CaRMS publishes annual reports on the number of students applying and matching to residency positions across Canada, there are few xx published studies examining trends over a recent period of time. The existing studies have mainly focused on factors influencing medical students interest in surgery or have been specialty-specific in nature.…”

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

“…Overall, this data suggests that attending a top-40 medical school may be becoming less important in securing a match in OTO-HNS, while access and exposure to OTO-HNS departments may be more meaningful. 6,40,42,49,50…”

A systematic review of factors affecting choice of otolaryngology as a career in medical students and junior doctors

“…5 National data from the Canadian Resident Matching Service for the period from 2002 to 2007 compared with 2008 to 2013 showed a 16.1 per cent decline in first-choice applications to otolaryngology. 6…”