Letter from the Editor: How We Can Improve the Otolaryngology Residency Selection Process

• For starters, our engagement with prospective medical students needs to continue. We want to attract the best and brightest medical students, and we have a long way to go to better our recruitment of students of color, as our specialty remains one of the least diverse fields by race.
• We need to eliminate the mistakes of years past in pushing personality tests and other application barriers.
• As mentors to these students, we need to counsel them on the importance of having a competitive application, including their research publications, and dual applying to another field as a back-up plan.
• As a specialty, we should look at participating in the early Match again. It gives unmatched students more time to apply for other competitive specialties and avoid the uncertainty of the SOAP process.   

Otolaryngology is a wonderful specialty, and I congratulate our new trainees, but I also feel for those whose dreams have hit a bump in the road. It’s my hope that we work together to improve the residency selection process for all.

—Alex