(0220) Exposure to Gender-Affirming Care Among Otolaryngology Residents

Introduction: Opportunities for otolaryngology residents to gain exposure and training in gender-affirming care (GAC) are not well-described. We examined the prevalence of US otolaryngology residency programs that have multidisciplinary GAC clinics, surgeons performing gender-affirming surgery (GAS), and faculty who have published on GAC.

Methods: The AMA FREIDA® Database was utilized to identify all US otolaryngology residency programs. Publicly available data from each program’s institutional website was used to identify current facial plastics and laryngology faculty and assess for the presence of a GAC clinic. Faculty members were queried in PubMed to review any publications specific to GAC. Data was collected in January 2024.

Results: In total, 131 otolaryngology residency programs were identified. Of them, 92 (70%) programs encompassing 1,457 (78%) otolaryngology residents were located at an institution with a multidisciplinary GAC clinic.

Of the total, 27 (29%) programs, capturing 488 (33%) residents, had at least one laryngologist and one otolaryngology-trained facial plastic reconstructive surgeon as members of the GAC team. At least one otolaryngology-trained specialist offering GAS was present in 42 (32.1%) programs with a total of 765 (40.7%) residents. Regionally, programs with any faculty performing GAS were most prevalent in the Midwest (16), followed by the Northeast (10), West (9), and South (7).

At least one faculty member with at least one publication specific to GAC was present in 36 programs (29%) encompassing 652 residents (35%).

Conclusions: Most US otolaryngology residents train at institutions with a GAC clinic, but involvement of otolaryngology faculty is variable. Of the programs, 59 had no otolaryngology faculty performing GAS and encompass 714 (38%) otolaryngology residents who are unlikely to have many opportunities for exposure to GAC and GAS. Less than a third of programs had faculty publishing in the field of GAS. More studies are needed to identify the specific gaps in training and research related to GAC across otolaryngology programs.