Fellowship training in rhinology: A survey of fellows from the past 6 years

Objectives: To define the educational goals and determine the success of formal fellowship programs in rhinology. Design: An anonymous, Internet-based survey of current rhinology fellows and those from the past 5 years. Main Outcome Measure: A 5-point ordinal Likert scale was used, with higher scores being more favorable. Results: Complete responses were collected from 46 of 70 eligible participants (66%), representing 19 fellowship programs. High overall satisfaction with the fellowship experience was reported (mean score, 4.7). Pooled scores for comfort levels with the management of medical issues (mean, 4.8) and surgical procedures (mean, 4.5) were also positive. Following completion of training, lesser levels of comfort were associated with craniofacial procedures (P<.001), frontal sinus obliteration (P<.001), and dacryocystorhinostomy (P=.002) compared with all surveyed procedures. Respondents reported a greater interest in (mean score, 4.3 vs 2.4; P<.001) and preparation for (4.3 vs 3.5; P<.001) a career in academic medicine compared with private practice. Conclusions: The rhinology fellowship experience appears to be generally favorable in terms of meeting stated training goals and helping fellows achieve subjective comfort with medical and surgical management of rhinological disorders. Continued discussion of the goals of rhinology fellowship training is necessary.