Otolaryngology

Otolaryngology: is the medical specialty where physicians are known as head and neck surgeons and provide medical and surgical care to patients with diseases and disorders affecting the ear, nose, throat, the respiratory and upper alimentary systems, and related structures of the head and neck.

Quick Facts

Competitiveness: Highest

Length of training: 5 or 6 years

Number of residency programs: 103

Number of residents in training: 1,045

Number in U.S. currently Board Certified in specialty: 9,322

First year median compensation: $172,000

Mean number of hours per week in patient care activities: 52.1

Residency Information

You will complete 1 or 2 years of training in general surgery, followed by 4 years in an otolaryngology residency. There are several subspecialties (require 1 to 2 years of additional training) available, which include:

• Neurotology- treats diseases of the ear and temporal bone, including disorders of hearing and imbalance.
• Pediatric Otolarynology- diagnosis and treatment of children with diseases of the ear, nose and throat, including disorders of voice, speech, language, and hearing.
• Plastic Surgery within the Head and Neck- trained in plastic and reconstructive procedures within the head, face, neck and associated structures.
• Sleep Medicine- diagnoses and manages clinical conditions which occur during sleep, that disturb sleep, or that are affected by disturbances in the wake-sleep cycle.

  Why Choose

  Many physicians practicing otolarynology are attracted by the wide variety of problems and the opportunity to work with patients of all age groups, using their medical and surgical training. It is surprising that many doctors were originally in other specialties as interns when they decided to make the switch to this specialty.

  Typical Schedule

  You will work approximately from 10 to 12 hours per day and divide your week into surgery or office days or spend your mornings operating, while seeing patients in the afternoon. In general you will see 25 to 30 patients each day and they will all present a variety of problems. On-call schedules will vary depending on your particular practice group.

  If You're Interested

  This is a very competitive specialty and you will need to have excellent grades and it doesn't hurt to know the attending physicians at your school. You will need to be capable of gaining a high level of manual dexterity because you will need to perfect a number of procedural techniques.

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