Introduction
Clinical exposure and mentorship are widely recognized as crucial factors influencing medical students' specialty choice. Beyond first-year lectures and anatomy classes, many students graduate with limited exposure to Otolaryngology, as it is not a core clerkship. Furthermore, Otolaryngology continues to have an underrepresentation of racial minorities. This study aims to examine the role of mentorship in career choice and explore differences in demographic characteristics and exposure to Otolaryngology between medical students who considered it as a career and those who did not.
Methods
This cross-sectional study involved distributing a survey electronically to third- and fourth-year medical students at a single medical school, with a small monetary incentive for completion. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact tests, logistic regression models, and qualitative analysis.
Results
A total of 172 out of 374 students responded (46%). Among respondents, 74 (43.0%) considered Otolaryngology during medical school and 7 (4.1%) chose Otolaryngology as their preferred specialty. Respondents who chose Otolaryngology were more likely to have been exposed to Otolaryngology prior to medical school than respondents who did not choose Otolaryngology (71.4% vs. 28.6%; p=0.048). Only 39 (22.7%) of respondents reported further exposure outside of first-year lectures.
There were no significant gender differences among students who considered versus did not consider Otolaryngology (p = 0.537). However, significant racial differences were observed (p=0.003). Black/African American (OR=0.11, 95% CI 0.01-0.99; p=0.049) and Hispanic or Latino (OR=0.14, 95% CI 0.03-0.65; p=0.012) were less likely to consider Otolaryngology compared to their White peers when adjusted for exposure prior to medical school.
Among respondents, 170 found mentors in their field (98.8%) with 24 (14.0%) involved in formal mentorship programs. Mentors were commonly found through M2 rotations (24.4%), M3 rotations (23.8%), and research (26.7%). Unsolicited emails were a notable method for finding mentors according to qualitative analysis.
Conclusions
Our results showed that medical students differed in their consideration of Otolaryngology based on demographic and exposure characteristics, while also underscoring the crucial role of mentorship in career choices. These findings support the need for diverse medical school recruitment efforts and pipeline mentorship programs for underrepresented minority students interested in Otolaryngology.
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