Head and Neck Cancer Research Training Program Associated with Academic Success for Trainees

This study is to analyze academic success metrics of otolaryngology cancer research laboratory trainees. This is a retrospective analysis of trainee academic outcomes from 2000 to 2020. We examined careers of 99 trainees of the senior author's cancer research laboratory, including undergraduates, medical students, otolaryngology residents/fellows, and NIH T32 postdocs. We compared medical school matriculation rates, otolaryngology and head and neck surgery (OHNS) residency match rates, fellowship match rates, publication rates, and academic positions with publicly available data from the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), and others. Nine undergraduates achieved a 100% medical school matriculation rate compared with the AAMC rate of 43.4%. Of 22/53 medical students who applied to OHNS residency, students achieved a 100% match rate, compared with the NRMP match rate of 82.1%. Of 33 medical students who completed training, 45.4% became academicians, compared with 44.9% in an NIH R25E program cohort, which is notable. Interestingly, medical student trainees overall had more publications compared with incoming OHNS residents. Our residents achieved a 100% fellowship match rate compared with 79.0% average match rate across OHNS fellowship programs. Twelve of 25 (48%) residents earned advanced degrees (10 MS, 2 PhD), 11 of which were directly related to oncology. This was statistically significant compared to incoming otolaryngology residents via the NRMP data. Sixty percent (3/5) of surgical fellows entered academics. We observed multiple benefits from participation in our research laboratory at all levels of academic cancer training, specifically medical school and otolaryngology residency matriculation and academic faculty placement of former trainees.