Materials and Methods
Annual National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP) reports from 2014–2021 were examined.2 Data collected on application statistics included number of otolaryngology applicants, number of otolaryngology matches, and match rate for each application year. Continuous variable significance testing was performed in Excel (Redmond, WA) using Student’s t-tests between application years.
A secondary survey was designed to assess otolaryngology resident perceptions on the impact of PSP, ORTA phone interview, reputation that it is difficult to match into otolaryngology, number of medical school classmates applying to otolaryngology, and program director (PD) advice on decision to apply to otolaryngology. In addition, otolaryngology residents were asked about their perceptions of these factors on medical school classmates that considered otolaryngology but applied to another specialty instead (“non-otolaryngology”). Following Institutional Review Board approval, the survey was circulated to all otolaryngology PDs for distribution to current post-graduate year one and two (PGY-1/PGY-2) otolaryngology residents beginning residency in 2017–2018 or 2018–2019. Survey responses were collected via SurveyMonkey (Santa Mateo, CA) from July–September 2018.
Descriptive statistics were performed in Excel (Redmond, WA). Fisher’s exact test (Stata/SE 13.1, StataCorp, College Station, TX) was used to compare responses to questions about the impact of factors (PSP, ORTA phone interview, difficult reputation, and PD advice) on resident decisions to apply to otolaryngology with responses estimating the influence of each of these factors on classmates’ decisions to not apply to otolaryngology.