Practice Patterns and Career Satisfaction in Recent Head and Neck Oncology Fellowship Graduates

OBJECTIVE: Examine the characteristics of recent head and neck (H&N) oncology fellowship graduates and assess their current perceptions of career alignment and satisfaction. METHODS: H&N fellowship graduates from American Head and Neck Society–accredited programs between 2015 to 2020 were surveyed. Two-sample t tests and analysis of variance tests were used to determine the effect of respondents’ demographics, fellowship characteristics, career preferences, and current practice on their degree of career alignment with expectations and overall job satisfaction. RESULTS: Fifty-eight fellowship graduates completed the cross-sectional survey. Of all respondents, 52 (89.7%) primarily preferred an academic job, of whom 5 (9.6%) went into private practice. Respondents in private practice, those treating general otolaryngology patients, and those who do not work with residents demonstrated significantly poorer job alignment and career satisfaction as compared with those in academic medicine, those treating only H&N patients, and those working with residents, respectively. DISCUSSION: The majority of graduating H&N fellows prefer a job in academic medicine; however, there may be an insufficient number of desirable academic positions available each year to meet such demand. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: By setting realistic career expectations, preparing for a mixed scope of practice, and integrating resident involvement into private practice groups, H&N providers may ultimately find more fulfillment in their work. These findings could also be valuable to the American Head and Neck Society and fellowship programs in designing training and in planning for the number of available fellowship positions each year.