{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.0318970341354225, 'fraction_numerical': 0.03301622831561276, 'mean_word_length': 5.318021201413427, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Business of Medicine/Practice Management

Introduction: We hypothesize that a majority of faculty and leadership from top-ranked otolaryngology departments have a prior affiliation with their own institution or with other programs of similar rank. Method: Top 25 otolaryngology departments were identified from the 2021 Doximity reputation ranking. Program characteristics and each clinical faculty’s training history were collected from institutional websites in June 2022. Proportions (faculty per department) of faculty affiliations with their own institution, and between all top 25, were calculated and compared. Results: A total of 972 clinical faculty were identified. Overall, 48% of faculty have ≥1 prior affiliation with their own department. Percentages of faculty who completed medical school, residency, and fellowship at their own institution are 14%, 34.4%, and 14.5%, respectively. Of the top 5 departments, 37.4% faculty completed a top 5 residency, compared with 7% at departments ranked 6-25. For all 25 departments, 29.5% of faculty completed a top 10 residency and 65% completed a top 25 residency, on average. Finally, 52% of department chairs have ≥1 prior affiliation with their own department, while 24% and 80% completed residency at top 10 and 25 residencies, respectively. Conclusion: Top-ranked otolaryngology programs may be inclined toward hiring faculty and leadership from their own trainees. Abundant hiring crossover among top 25 programs may suggest an emphasis on connection to highly ranked departments. More research is needed to understand the impact of familiarity bias on academic faculty hiring. The authors feel that it is important for programs to be aware of current hiring practices and provide freely accessible metrics during recruitment.