A survey of US medical education in otolaryngology.

Background: With the increasing amount and complexity of medical information, medical schools are challenged with incorporating surgical subspecialty education, such as otolaryngology (OTO), into a time-limited curriculum.

Objectives: To understand the state of OTO education in US medical schools and to generate a discussion of the role of surgical subspecialty education in the medical school curriculum.

Design: Mail survey and follow-up letter and telephone survey conducted in 2000 to 2001.

Participants: Academic faculty at each of the 125 US medical schools.

Results: Responses were obtained from all 122 OTO programs associated with the 125 US medical schools with Liaison Committee on Medical Education-accredited programs. One third (33.6%) of the schools have a required rotation in OTO in the clinical years, with others offering elective rotations; only 5.2% offered no exposure in the third year of medical school. Most schools offer some OTO in the first 2 years; 71.1% and 87.2% taught OTO in the first and second years, respectively, mostly in anatomy and physical diagnosis. In the fourth year, almost 68.9% of schools reported student participation in an OTO elective.

Conclusion: Most medical schools in the United States offer some teaching and clinical exposure to OTO, with considerable variability in the type of experience.