Otolaryngology Resident Education: Beyond Procedural Case Logs-A 10-Year Single Institutional Review

To quantify the otolaryngologic diagnoses encountered in outpatient clinics by otolaryngology-head and neck surgery (OHNS) residents during their 5 years of postgraduate training.

This is a retrospective review at a single institution following 5 consecutive graduating resident cohorts throughout their training. The electronic health record was queried for OHNS clinic encounters from 2013 through 2022 during which the resident physicians were included as the visit provider or assistant to an attending physician. Diagnoses were sorted into categories as adapted from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education OHNS Milestones 2.0.

From 2013 to 2022, 10 residents participated in 25,447 unique clinic encounters, averaging 2544 total clinic encounters per resident. Of these, 13,957 (54.8%) listed the resident as a visit provider. The most frequently coded categories included otologic diseases (25.3%), head and neck neoplasms (14.8%), and rhinologic diseases (10.8%). Most frequently coded diagnoses included postoperative care, benign subcutaneous masses, ear infections, cerumen impaction, and maxillofacial fractures.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to quantify the OHNS resident clinic experience. Additional data from other institutions is needed to better evaluate clinical competency regarding these nonprocedural facets in residency training.

As OHNS residency training continues to evolve, it is important to evaluate the outpatient clinical experience and ensure it reflects educational needs, including adequate exposure to a range of otolaryngologic diagnoses and conditions to prepare trainees for independent practice.