The Current State of the Otolaryngology Workforce

Lauren M Cass; Joshua B Smith

doi:10.1016/j.otc.2020.05.016

The Current State of the Otolaryngology Workforce

Otolaryngol Clin North Am. 2020 Oct;53(5):915-926. doi: 10.1016/j.otc.2020.05.016. Epub 2020 Jul 15.

Authors

Lauren M Cass¹, Joshua B Smith²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, MS 3010, Kansas City, KS 66106, USA. Electronic address: Lcass@kumc.edu.
² Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, MS 3010, Kansas City, KS 66106, USA. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/JBSmithMD.

PMID: 32682535
DOI: 10.1016/j.otc.2020.05.016

Abstract

A shortage of otolaryngologists is predicted for the coming decades, primarily because of an aging population and aging workforce. However, many factors affect the agility of the workforce to expand or contract. This article discusses what is known about factors of the current otolaryngology workforce, including trends in residency and fellowship training, diversity of the specialty, its geographic distribution, and the challenges of caring for an aging population. Predicting the shortage and possible solutions through modeling is complex and prone to errors caused by incomplete data and assumptions about otolaryngology's similarity to other specialties of medicine at large.

Keywords: Diversity; Otolaryngology; Public health; Workforce.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Fellowships and Scholarships
Humans
Internship and Residency
Otolaryngologists / supply & distribution*
Otolaryngology / education
Otolaryngology / trends*
United States
Workforce