An Evaluation of Otolaryngology Residency Program Websites

Otolaryngology remains one of the most competitive specialties to match into during the residency application process. Medical students often apply to many programs to increase their chances of matching into a residency program and rely on residency websites to gather information about the programs they apply to. The purpose of this study was to determine the comprehensiveness of the information on otolaryngology residency program websites.

One hundred twenty-two publicly available otolaryngology residency program websites were evaluated for the presence of 47 criteria. Size, geographic location, and affiliation with a Top 50 ranked hospital for ear, nose, and throat care, according to the US News and World Report, were determined for each program. Frequencies were calculated for each of the different residency website criteria and non-parametric comparisons were used to analyze the relationship between the location, size, and ranking of each program, and the comprehensiveness of the program website.

An average of 19.1 items (SD: 6.6 items) out of the 47 searches were present on the otolaryngology residency program websites. More than 75% of the websites contained the following program features: facility descriptions, descriptions of didactics, and research requirements. A total of 89.3% of the websites had a current resident list, 87.7% of these websites had photos of their residents, and 86.9% had a program contact email. Otolaryngology residency programs affiliated with a Top ENT hospital had a higher average number of criteria satisfied (21.6 criteria) compared to those that were not affiliated (17.9 criteria).

The inclusion of research selection criteria, call schedule/requirements, average Step 2 scores of matched residents, and social aspects of residency could improve otolaryngology residency applicant satisfaction with residency program websites. Updating otolaryngology residency websites will assist prospective applicants as they apply to a wide variety of residency programs.