Characterizing critical predictors of an academic career following head and neck fellowship in otolaryngology

Background: Historically, graduating head and neck (HN) fellows outpace available academic HN positions, resulting in a highly competitive job market. We identified factors that associate with full-time academic HN positions post-HN fellowship.

Methods: Graduates of American Head and Neck Society (AHNS)-accredited fellowships from 2005 to 2017 (n = 356) were extracted from the AHNS website.

Results: From 2015 to 2017, the supply-demand mismatch for academic HN jobs improved. Of the 57.3% (n = 204) of graduating HN fellows who entered academia, 64% (n = 130) trained at just 10 fellowship institutions, 47% (n = 94) attended OHNS residency at an NIH top 40 funded institution, and 54% (n = 111) attended OHNS residency at an AHNS-accredited institution offering HN fellowship. After multivariate regression, number of manuscripts (OR = 1.14; p = 0.01) was significantly associated with initial academic job post-fellowship.

Conclusion: The recent improvement in supply-demand mismatch for academic jobs is promising for future HN fellows interested in academia.