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Professional and Personal Development

(515) Trends of Women in Otolaryngology Mentorship Program

Monday, October 2, 2023
2:45 PM – 3:45 PM East Coast USA Time
Has Audio

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Ericka L. Erickson, MD, MBA

    Resident Physician
    The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
    Columbus, Ohio, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • RS

    Rishabh Sethia, MD

    Resident Physician - Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
    Ohio State University Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
    Columbus, Ohio, United States

  • CS

    Cameron Sheehan, MD

    Baylor College of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology, USA

    • Senior Author(s)

  • NS

    Nolan Seim, MD

    Ohio State University Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, USA

  • Charles A. Elmaraghy, MD

    Chief Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Associate Professor
    Department of Otolaryngology, Nationwide Children's Hospital
    New Albany, OH, USA

Disclosure(s):
Ericka L. Erickson, MD, MBA: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Rishabh Sethia, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.


Introduction: Women in otolaryngology have been historically underrepresented, even with the percentage of female medical students increasing to 50%. Currently, approximately 34% of otolaryngology residents are women, representing a growing pipeline for the field. Mentorship models have positively impacted exposure to otolaryngology for medical students. The ENT Mentorship Program (ENTMP) provides junior medical students with early clinical exposure to the field as well as an avenue for building relationships. Reflecting on the last eight years of the program, we sought to examine our own trends of female medical students entering the field at an institution with a formal mentorship program in place.

Methods: Junior medical students participate in the ENT Mentorship Program to gain early surgical exposure in otolaryngology. Program participation from 2015-2022 was reviewed stratified by graduating class. Qualitative data including women participants, mentors, and matched students was collected.

Results: Since 2015, 76 students have participated in the ENTMP, 50% of which have been women. In 2020, there was not a program due to the pandemic, so this includes seven years of data. The percentage of women participating in the ENTMP has ranged from 38-64% with no linear trend. However, the number of women matching into otolaryngology has overall increased since the beginning of this program, with 25% from the 2015 cohort, 0% in the 2017 cohort, and 57% from the 2019 cohort. About half of the women that matched into otolaryngology had completed the ENTMP (60%). Female mentors ranged from 0-38%, with the average being about 2 per year. The ENTMP also included female URM representation on both the mentor and mentee level.

Conclusions: The proportion of women entering Otolaryngology has increased at a single institution during the implementation of the ENT Mentorship Program. During this time, the percentage of women in the college of medicine has also increased to greater than 50%. The mentorship model could be useful at other programs to increase diversity in the field with the increasing diversity in medical school classes.