Kozin Elliott D, Sethi Rosh K V, Lehmann Ashton, Remenschneider Aaron K, Golub Justin S, Reyes Samuel A, Emerick Kevin S, Lee Daniel J, Gray Stacey T
Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2015 Mar;152(3):458-64. doi: 10.1177/0194599814561187. Epub 2014 Dec 30.
"The Match" has become the accepted selection process for graduate medical education. Otomatch.com has provided an online forum for Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) Match-related questions for over a decade. Herein, we aim to delineate the type of posts on Otomatch to better understand the perspective of medical students applying for OHNS residency.
Retrospective review of an OHNS Match-related online forum.
Subjects were contributors to an OHNS Match-related online forum. Posts on Otomatch between December 2001 and April 2014 were reviewed. The title of each thread and number of views were recorded for quantitative analysis. Each thread was organized into 1 of 6 major categories and 1 of 18 subcategories. National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) data were utilized for comparison.
We identified 1921 threads corresponding to over 2 million page views. Over 40% of threads were related to questions about specific programs, and 27% were discussions about interviews. Views, a surrogate measure for popularity, reflected different trends. The majority of individuals viewed posts on interviews (42%), program-specific questions (20%), and how to rank programs (11%). There was an increase in viewership tracked with a rise in applicant numbers based on NRMP data.
Our study provides an in-depth analysis of a popular discussion forum for medical students interested in the OHNS Match process. The most viewed posts are about interview dates and questions regarding specific programs. We provide suggestions to address unmet needs for medical students and potentially improve the Match process.
“住院医师匹配计划”已成为研究生医学教育公认的选拔流程。十多年来，Otomatch.com为耳鼻喉头颈外科（OHNS）住院医师匹配计划相关问题提供了一个在线论坛。在此，我们旨在描述Otomatch上的帖子类型，以便更好地了解申请OHNS住院医师职位的医学生的观点。
对一个与OHNS住院医师匹配计划相关的在线论坛进行回顾性研究。
研究对象为一个与OHNS住院医师匹配计划相关的在线论坛的参与者。回顾了2001年12月至2014年4月期间Otomatch上的帖子。记录每个主题帖的标题和浏览量，用于定量分析。每个主题帖被归类为6个主要类别之一和18个子类别之一。利用国家住院医师匹配计划（NRMP）的数据进行比较。
我们识别出1921个主题帖，对应超过200万次页面浏览量。超过40%的主题帖与特定项目的问题相关，27%是关于面试的讨论。浏览量作为受欢迎程度的一种替代衡量指标，反映了不同的趋势。大多数人浏览的帖子是关于面试（42%）、特定项目的问题（20%）以及如何对项目进行排名（11%）。根据NRMP数据，随着申请人数量的增加，浏览量也有所上升。
我们的研究对一个受对OHNS住院医师匹配计划感兴趣的医学生欢迎的讨论论坛进行了深入分析。浏览量最高的帖子是关于面试日期和特定项目的问题。我们针对医学生未满足的需求提供了建议，并可能改进住院医师匹配计划流程。
