Tamara Chambers

Objective Understand how otolaryngology residency applicant characteristics have changed over time and compare them to those of other surgical subspecialties. Study Design Retrospective analysis of academic, extracurricular, and application data in the Texas Seeking Transparency in Application to Residency databases. Setting Applicants to otolaryngology, neurological surgery, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, urology, and orthopedic surgery applicants from 2019 to 2023. Methods Kruskal‐Wallis, Wilcoxon rank sum, Fischer's exact, and Mann‐Whitney U tests were used to compare temporal, match‐based, and subspecialty differences in applicant characteristics. Results Across 4 match cycles and 541 otolaryngology applicants, significant differences were found in the average number of honored clerkships per applicant ( P = 0.044), the percentage of matched applicants ( P = 0.017), and the average number of research experiences ( P < 0.001), peer‐revied publications ( P = 0.002), applied programs ( P < 0.001), and interviews received ( P = 0.041). Relative to their unmatched counterparts, matched applicants frequently received more interviews, belonged to higher academic quartiles, and were more likely to belong to academic honor societies (all P < 0.05). Matched applicants exhibited significant differences in the number of research experiences ( P = 0.002), peer‐reviewed publications ( P = 0.004), and applied programs across cycles ( P < 0.001). Relative to applicants from other surgical subspecialties, otolaryngology applicants exhibited high amounts of extracurricular involvement, were on par in terms of research output, and received a low proportion of interviews despite applying to a high number of programs. Conclusion Matching into otolaryngology has become increasingly competitive and is as competitive as peer surgical subspecialties. Strong academic performance, judicious program signaling, increased research involvement, and holistic factors like letters of recommendation may help applicants successfully match.

Objective To assess transgender and nonbinary adults’ awareness of Otolaryngologists’ (ENT) and speech‐language pathologists’ (SLP) ability to perform various face, neck, and voice procedures for gender‐affirming purposes. Study Design Cross‐sectional survey. Setting Online, from February to May 2022. Methods We developed a list of nonsurgical and surgical gender‐affirming face, neck, and voice procedures. We asked transgender and nonbinary (TNB) adults which procedures from this list they knew could be performed by specially‐trained ENTs or SLPs for gender‐affirmation and which listed procedures they knew existed as gender‐affirming treatment before the survey. We assessed awareness of ENTs’ and SLPs’ ability for each procedure across gender identity using Fisher exact tests. We examined if demographic or socioeconomic factors were associated with the total number of gender‐affirming procedures participants knew ENTs or SLPs could perform using univariable linear regression. Results TNB adults (N = 234) generally knew these procedures existed as gender‐affirming treatment (64%‐93%). However, TNB adults were largely unaware these gender‐affirming procedures could be performed by specially‐trained ENTs or SLPs (53% or less), especially procedures unrelated to the voice, neck, and nose (26% or less). Knowledge of ENTs' and SLPs' ability was similar across gender identity for most procedures. Total number of procedures known that ENTs or SLPs could perform did not differ by demographic/socioeconomic factors ( p > .05). Conclusion These findings suggest transgender and nonbinary individuals may not know to seek Otolaryngologists or SLP when desiring gender‐affirming face, neck, or voice care. Increased efforts are needed to promote awareness of Otolaryngology's role in providing gender‐affirming care. Level of Evidence 4.