Professional diversity and personal commitments of pediatric otolaryngologists

To characterize the time demands and practice patterns of pediatric otolaryngologists.

Prospective survey of members from the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology.

The survey response rate was 54% (n = 136) of practicing members of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology. Respondents described being actively engaged in clinical otolaryngology (99%), hospital or practice administration (71%), private enterprise (17%), research (71%), and teaching (89%) on a weekly basis. Sixty percent considered their time demands to be "too busy"; however, few anticipated changing their activities in 5 years. Among the responding physicians, 90% believed that nonotolaryngology peers within their institutions viewed pediatric otolaryngology favorably whereas only 50% thought that other otolaryngologists held the same opinion.

Pediatric otolaryngologists participate in many activities beyond clinical medicine. While most considered their time demands to be too busy, few anticipated a change in their activities. This may be reflective of a high level of job satisfaction, financial constraints, or the relative youth of the subspecialty.