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Scientific Oral Presentations

Business of Medicine/Practice Management

Session: Scientific Oral Presentations - Business of Medicine/Practice Management

Evaluation of Bias in the Otolaryngology Residency Application Process

Sunday, September 29, 2024
3:18 PM – 3:24 PM EDT
Location: MBCC, 233
Disclosure(s):
Osama A. Hamdi, MD:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Hani Samarah, BS:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Cristina Cabrera-Muffly, MD:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Introduction: The otolaryngology residency match process is competitive. Women and minorities are underrepresented in otolaryngology compared to the US population. This retrospective review assessed for biases and linguistic differences in letters of recommendation (LOR) and personal statements (PS) among applicants of different gender and race.

Methods: Retrospective quantitative analysis of 416 applicants to one institution during the 2022 match cycle was performed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2022 (LIWC2022), a validated software application designed to analyze emotional, cognitive, and structural components of written text.

Results: Among PS, male applicants used more analytical language than female applicants (p = 0.015). Female applicants had higher affect (p = 0.003), and positive emotion (p = 0.009). Asian applicants displayed higher levels of analytical writing (p = 0.017), risk (p = 0.002), and allure (p < 0.001). Hispanic applicants had higher levels of power (p = 0.003). Black applicants had higher levels of authenticity (p = 0.002), achievement (p = 0.002), and positive emotion (p = 0.003). LOR written for female applicants had higher affect (p = 0.039) and emotions (p = 0.03).

Conclusions: Different levels of emotional and cognitive writing by gender and racial and ethnic self-identities suggest that PS writing is influenced by cultural experiences. Letter writers showed different biases in language when writing for applicants of different gender and racial and ethnic backgrounds.

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Osama A. Hamdi, MD

    Resident
    University of Colorado
    Aurora, CO, United States

    Disclosure(s):

    faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

    • Co-Author(s)

  • SH

    Scott D. Hirsch, MD

    Fellow
    Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Texas Children's Hospital
    Houston, TX, United States

    Disclosure information not submitted.

  • TJ

    Taylor Jamil, MD

    University of Colorado, United States

    Disclosure information not submitted.

  • Hani Samarah, BS

    Medical Student
    Florida International University (Wertheim) - Medical College
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

    Disclosure(s):

    faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

  • AJ

    Andrew Johnson, MD

    University of Colorado, United States

    Disclosure information not submitted.

    • Senior Author(s)

  • Cristina Cabrera-Muffly, MD

    Associate Professor
    University of Colorado School of Medicine
    Englewood, CO, United States

    Disclosure(s):

    faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.