Anonymous Applicant Feedback on Otolaryngology Residency Programs via Otomatch

Otomatch.com is a public forum where otolaryngology residency applicants share anonymous impressions from subinternship rotations and interviews. We conducted a qualitative analysis of posted comments to describe the program attributes and experiences most frequently discussed on Otomatch.

We extracted interview and subinternship comments from spreadsheets covering the 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 application cycles. Each comment was coded to a theme and sub-theme and labeled as positive, negative, or neutral.

In total, 1791 comments were coded, of which 56.8% were positive, 21.6% negative, and 21.6% neutral. Most feedback related to interpersonal relationships (30.4%). Within this theme, the most frequent positive sub-themes were interactions with residents, fellows, and attending physicians (64.0%) and overall culture (16.0%). The second most frequent theme was the subinternship rotation (17.6%), followed by surgical training (15.6%). The most negative feedback concerned interactions with resident and attending physicians, followed by criticism of call schedules.

Individuals posting on Otomatch frequently described inclusive culture, robust surgical training, thoughtful interview experiences, and positive interactions with residents and attending physicians during subinternship rotations and the interview process. Conversely, negative posts most often described unfavorable experiences in these same domains. Our analysis may support program leadership reflection and targeted refinements to modifiable aspects of the residency applicant experience.