Asynchronous learning among otolaryngology residents in the United States

Otolaryngology resident learning has historically relied on didactic lectures, textbook reading, and practical hands-on patient care. However, evidence suggests that an increasing proportion of residents in other specialties are deviating from this paradigm. This work aims to characterize otolaryngology residents' current asynchronous learning practices (i.e., personal learning outside of didactics and patient care).

A thirteen-question survey of otolaryngology residents in the United States was performed from 10/1/2020-12/1/2020 assessing demographics, educational resource utilization, and educational resource preference.

Nearly all (99 %) respondents reported engaging with educational materials outside of didactics and case prep. Textbook reading comprised 27 % of residents' total study time, with additional time split between board-review book reading (20 %), searching the web (18 %), watching online videos (15 %), and listening to podcasts (10 %). Residents' highest ranked resources were videos, board-review books, textbooks, podcasts, and recorded lectures. Among electronic and multimedia resources, more than half of residents used the following resources: Iowa Head and Neck Protocols (91 %), Board Vitals (75 %), UpToDate (60 %), YouTube (57 %), Google (56 %), and Headmirror (54 %).

Current otolaryngology resident learning involves substantial use of asynchronous learning, including videos, web-based learning, and podcasts, which currently outpace traditional textbook- and didactic-based education. This underscores the need to consider a paradigm shift within academic otolaryngology education away from textbooks and other tradition media to the generation of high-quality multimedia resources for resident learning.