Evolving phenotype of the head and neck surgeon

Objective

Characterize the evolution of head and neck (H&N) surgical practices in the United States over two decades by using resident case log data as a surrogate.

Methods

National residency case log data from all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education‐accredited otolaryngology residency programs was reviewed for the past 20 academic years (1996–2015). Key indicator procedures in each subcategory of H&N were analyzed to characterize standard ablative H&N surgical practices. Mean number of cases completed per resident each year was calculated.

Results

The proportion of H&N surgeries contributing to the total number of otolaryngology cases performed yearly remained relatively stable during the study period, ranging from 6.4% to 8.7%, indicating concurrent growth of H&N cases with all otolaryngology surgeries. Although each subcategory within H&N demonstrated modest increases in the number of cases performed per resident each year over the study period, the most significant growth occurred in the endocrine surgery subcategory: a 288% increase from 18.4 in 1996 to 71.5 in 2015. The proportion of H&N cases represented by each subcategory decreased, except for endocrine, which more than doubled in proportion from 21% in 1996 to 43% in 2015.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that the modern H&N surgeon is increasingly becoming an endocrine and H&N surgeon. The proportion of endocrine surgeries performed in residency, which serves as a surrogate for H&N practices, has more than doubled over the past 20 years and now represents the largest subcategory of H&N surgery.

Level of Evidence

NA. Laryngoscope, 2018

https://ift.tt/2qPyvND