Chances at ENT

[seanye_west]

Hey first time poster here.

Just have a quick question. So I am a US IMG, I go to a carb. school. Just got my step score back which I scored over 260. I have always been interested in ENT but kind of let that dream go since I don't go to a US school. However since I feel that I have scored fairly well on step the thought of perhaps matching into a ENT program is back.

I was wondering do I have even the slightest chance of matching into ENT, and how would any of you suggest I increase my chances beyond having a good step score?

Thanks,

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[cellsaver]

So I am a US IMG, I go to a carb. school. Just got my step score back which I scored over 260,

260? Is that even possible? Haters on SDN say Caribbean MD students are delusional and desperate rejects who end up in student loan debts. And yet here you are making them eat crow. You have shamed them and that is a good thing. Many congrats on the 260.

With a 260 score, great rotations and shaking a lot of hands, you can out do most MD Students. Shoot for the stars.

Your question can be researched on PubMed. I found this a few days ago and found it surprising. Lesson here: get to know them

The State of the Otolaryngology Match: A Review of Applicant Trends, "Impossible" Qualifications, and Implications. - PubMed - NCBI

The State of the Otolaryngology Match: A Review of Applicant Trends, "Impossible" Qualifications, and Implications.

Conclusion: Compared with other highly competitive fields over the past 3 years, the only specialty with decreasing applicant numbers is otolaryngology, with the rest remaining relatively stable or slightly increased. Additionally, USMLE Step 1 scores, AOA status, and research/publications do not reliably correlate with performance in residency. Implications for Practice The consistent decline in applications for otolaryngology residency is concerning and reflects a need for change in the current stereotype of the "ideal" otolaryngology applicant. This includes consideration of additional selection measures focusing on noncognitive and holistic qualities. Furthermore, otolaryngology faculty should counsel medical students that applying in otolaryngology is not "impossible" but rather a feasible and worthwhile endeavor.

 

[mcloaf]

260? Is that even possible? Haters on SDN say Caribbean MD students are delusional and desperate rejects who end up in student loan debts. And yet here you are making them eat crow. You have shamed them and that is a good thing. Many congrats on the 260.

With a 260 score, great rotations and shaking a lot of hands, you can out do most MD Students. Shoot for the stars.

This post makes my head hurt.

 

[educ8r]

Congrats on your good score. Take a look at 2016 charting the match for IMG. 5 US IMGs tried for otolaryngology that year. You can imagine the self selection. 3 were successful. Mean step 1 score of the matched US IMGs was 231. Take home is that there's a lot more to a successful match in ENT than a board score (this applies to both IMG and AMG by the way). Of note is the average 16.3 research experiences of the matched US IMGs.

 

[cellsaver]

This post makes my head hurt.

i invaded your safe space, snowflake
mommy is home waiting to place an ice bag on your boo boo

 

[Stagg737]

i invaded your safe space, snowflake
mommy is home waiting to place an ice bag on your boo boo

It makes his head hurt because many, if not most, Carib students from the U.S. are the desperate rejects who couldn't cut it at a US school and end up with a massive amount of debt just for a shot at a low-tier residency in the least competitive fields. Many of them are also delusional. OP just happens to be one of the very few examples of a Carib stud. (S)He is the exception, not the rule.

As for @seanye_west , I'd say your best bet is to take a year "off" and get some solid research in ENT (as was previously mentioned) then do plenty of audition rotations at ENT programs and apply very broadly when it comes time to apply for interviews. Sounds like you've given yourself a shot with your board scores, now it's time to show you're serious specifically about ENT.

 

[Raryn]

Congrats on your good score. Take a look at 2016 charting the match for IMG. 5 US IMGs tried for otolaryngology that year. You can imagine the self selection. 3 were successful. Mean step 1 score of the matched US IMGs was 231. Take home is that there's a lot more to a successful match in ENT than a board score (this applies to both IMG and AMG by the way). Of note is the average 16.3 research experiences of the matched US IMGs.

When you're dealing with small numbers like 5 people, you have to be really, really careful. Those are extreme outliers you're talking about here:
2 of the 3 matched people had 14+ interviews, one had one interview.
Of the three matched people, one had a step 1 score between 201 and 210, one between 221 and 230, one >260. Presumably the >260 guy is also the guy who had >260 on step 2.

One had 3 research projects. The other two had an average of 8.5.

And the three averaged 16.3 abstracts/publications/posters.

Basically, there's some ultra extreme self-selection. These guys were all heavy-duty researchers in the field, who knows how much time they took to do these projects. They could also have all been the children of ENT program directors, who knows?

 

[cellsaver]

...desperate rejects who couldn't cut it at a US school...

What do you call US LCME MD Graduates who complain about "long hours" during Residency, unfair wages, Attendings who complain about Admins "out to get them" or physicians who join Admins? I call them people who couldnt hack medicine.

The real world isnt pretty
You joined medicine because it was either a vocation or a job. The former prove to be noble healers. The latter mustered GPAs, MCAT and Step Scores but were dismal on Emotional Intelligence. And yet they are physicians

The burnt out physicians in medicine today rank approximately 50%. Those that cant hack it should have never been allowed into the profession. Its a vocation...not a static job with statis business paradigms on their rules

Evolution rules: those who are fit survive. Those who dont...extinct

The Emotional IQ should be a metric used to decipher worthy applicants, beyond MCAT and Step scores

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ Paperback – September 27, 2005
by Daniel Goleman

Amazon product ASIN 055338371X

 

[DNC127]

What do you call US LCME MD Graduates who complain about "long hours" during Residency, unfair wages, Attendings who complain about Admins "out to get them" or physicians who join Admins? I call them people who couldnt hack medicine.

The real world isnt pretty
You joined medicine because it was either a vocation or a job. The former prove to be noble healers. The latter mustered GPAs, MCAT and Step Scores but were dismal on Emotional Intelligence. And yet they are physicians

The burnt out physicians in medicine today rank approximately 50%. Those that cant hack it should have never been allowed into the profession. Its a vocation...not a static job with statis business paradigms on their rules

Evolution rules: those who are fit survive. Those who dont...extinct

The Emotional IQ should be a metric used to decipher worthy applicants, beyond MCAT and Step scores

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ Paperback – September 27, 2005
by Daniel Goleman

Amazon product ASIN 055338371X

you're annoying

 

[mcloaf]

i invaded your safe space, snowflake
mommy is home waiting to place an ice bag on your boo boo

The Emotional IQ should be a metric used to decipher worthy applicants, beyond MCAT and Step scores

Perhaps you could lead us by example.

 

[seanye_west]

Thank you everyone for their replies. I am lacking in the research department when it comes specifically to ENT, so I really do need to try to find some research opportunities. Will "taking" a year off to do research hurt my chances in matching into another speciality the following year if I dont happen to match in ENT? I plan on applying to all 110 programs in the US, and doing as many rotations as I can. According to the program directors survey they ranked doing a rotation in department pretty highly.

 

[Saifa]

What do you call US LCME MD Graduates who complain about "long hours" during Residency, unfair wages, Attendings who complain about Admins "out to get them" or physicians who join Admins? I call them people who couldnt hack medicine.

The real world isnt pretty
You joined medicine because it was either a vocation or a job. The former prove to be noble healers. The latter mustered GPAs, MCAT and Step Scores but were dismal on Emotional Intelligence. And yet they are physicians

The burnt out physicians in medicine today rank approximately 50%. Those that cant hack it should have never been allowed into the profession. Its a vocation...not a static job with statis business paradigms on their rules

Evolution rules: those who are fit survive. Those who dont...extinct

The Emotional IQ should be a metric used to decipher worthy applicants, beyond MCAT and Step scores

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ Paperback – September 27, 2005
by Daniel Goleman

Amazon product ASIN 055338371X

Ever try to sell someone a book because of your own glaring insecurities?

 

[educ8r]

In 2016, 4456 US IMGs tried to get a job in the US and allowed NMRP to use their data for research. 0.11% of those tried for ENT. 0.067% of the original 4456 matched into otolaryngology. This is not just the cream of the crop, these are exceptional people who likely had or were able to develop deep contacts in the field. At that level, the score on step 1 doesn't seem to matter. Maybe you are that top one in a thousand, which I guess would qualify as "even the slightest chance" that you originally asked about. But it won't be because of your scores.
It is going to be tough for anyone to say that you shouldn't follow your dream. If you say your only dream is to be an ENT surgeon, even if the odds are a thousand to one, then fine. But what about other fields? One of the three success stories in 2016 ranked only ENT programs. The other two had second choices. Wouldn't it be better to hedge your bets with those incredibly unfavorable odds?

 

[deleted781806]

i invaded your safe space, snowflake
mommy is home waiting to place an ice bag on your boo boo

You must be fun at parties.

But yes, OP, there's obviously some chance that you will be successful in your application for an ENT residency, but it is something you really need to think about as there are a ton of factors going into these placement decisions, research would probably help as others have mentioned above.

 

[Anicetus]

You all should read the blog of the Caribbean grad with a 260+ step 1 who applied for ortho and ended up IM in like Kansas or some ****.

 

[Redpancreas]

260? Is that even possible? Haters on SDN say Caribbean MD students are delusional and desperate rejects who end up in student loan debts. And yet here you are making them eat crow. You have shamed them and that is a good thing. Many congrats on the 260.

With a 260 score, great rotations and shaking a lot of hands, you can out do most MD Students. Shoot for the stars.

Your question can be researched on PubMed. I found this a few days ago and found it surprising. Lesson here: get to know them

The State of the Otolaryngology Match: A Review of Applicant Trends, "Impossible" Qualifications, and Implications. - PubMed - NCBI

The State of the Otolaryngology Match: A Review of Applicant Trends, "Impossible" Qualifications, and Implications.

Conclusion: Compared with other highly competitive fields over the past 3 years, the only specialty with decreasing applicant numbers is otolaryngology, with the rest remaining relatively stable or slightly increased. Additionally, USMLE Step 1 scores, AOA status, and research/publications do not reliably correlate with performance in residency. Implications for Practice The consistent decline in applications for otolaryngology residency is concerning and reflects a need for change in the current stereotype of the "ideal" otolaryngology applicant. This includes consideration of additional selection measures focusing on noncognitive and holistic qualities. Furthermore, otolaryngology faculty should counsel medical students that applying in otolaryngology is not "impossible" but rather a feasible and worthwhile endeavor.

Caribbean students at my state school IM residency accept plenty of IMGs who have those kinds of scores. Of course over 260 is possible and it's within 2 SD of the mean. It'll turn heads but shoot for the stars lmfao.

 

[cellsaver]

You must be fun at parties.

think Moses and parting the Red Sea with great hair

 

[seanye_west]

I do have a second choice for sure. My second choice became my first choice half way through my first year when I realized the difficulty IMG's have at matching in ENT. I only even started to consider ENT as a real possible choice when I got my step score back. I will definitely take the advice to find research opportunities and try to make myself a much better candidate when it comes around to the match

 

[Merely]

What do you call US LCME MD Graduates who complain about "long hours" during Residency, unfair wages, Attendings who complain about Admins "out to get them" or physicians who join Admins? I call them people who couldnt hack medicine.

The real world isnt pretty
You joined medicine because it was either a vocation or a job. The former prove to be noble healers. The latter mustered GPAs, MCAT and Step Scores but were dismal on Emotional Intelligence. And yet they are physicians

The burnt out physicians in medicine today rank approximately 50%. Those that cant hack it should have never been allowed into the profession. Its a vocation...not a static job with statis business paradigms on their rules

Evolution rules: those who are fit survive. Those who dont...extinct

The Emotional IQ should be a metric used to decipher worthy applicants, beyond MCAT and Step scores

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ Paperback – September 27, 2005
by Daniel Goleman

Amazon product ASIN 055338371X

No offense, but this person seems like a complete tool

 

[Stagg737]

What do you call US LCME MD Graduates who complain about "long hours" during Residency, unfair wages, Attendings who complain about Admins "out to get them" or physicians who join Admins? I call them people who couldnt hack medicine.

The real world isnt pretty
You joined medicine because it was either a vocation or a job. The former prove to be noble healers. The latter mustered GPAs, MCAT and Step Scores but were dismal on Emotional Intelligence. And yet they are physicians

The burnt out physicians in medicine today rank approximately 50%. Those that cant hack it should have never been allowed into the profession. Its a vocation...not a static job with statis business paradigms on their rules

Evolution rules: those who are fit survive. Those who dont...extinct

The Emotional IQ should be a metric used to decipher worthy applicants, beyond MCAT and Step scores

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ Paperback – September 27, 2005
by Daniel Goleman

Amazon product ASIN 055338371X

You realize that there is a difference between people arguing for better working conditions which will improve their patient's outcomes and people complaining that they can't get the residency they want even though they're significantly weaker applicants right? I'm not saying OP is one of those people or that there isn't bias/discrimination, but if you really think the average Carib student is on par with the average US MD/DO you aren't very familiar with many medical students or the differences in quality of their education.

Also, if you don't even know what scores are possible on a standardized test or what qualifications residencies are looking for, you shouldn't be giving advice about this until you've educated yourself. I agree that personality and caring about the patient should be a factor in selecting physicians, but there's not an objective way to measure how much of an a-hole someone is and there are already a lot of steps in the process which address this aspect (interviews, attending evaluations, letters of rec, etc).

I do have a second choice for sure. My second choice became my first choice half way through my first year when I realized the difficulty IMG's have at matching in ENT. I only even started to consider ENT as a real possible choice when I got my step score back. I will definitely take the advice to find research opportunities and try to make myself a much better candidate when it comes around to the match

I'd start looking for research ASAP. You want to show as much interest and commitment to the field as possible. If you really want to know what your chances are and what you need to do to maximize your chances at ENT, you should post in the ENT physician/resident forum. You might even be able to get some programs directors to comment and let you know what they look for. Best of luck, really hope ENT works out for you!

 

[cellsaver]

<snip>

You can't change people who don't have the right stuff to be decent human beings. No matter what school they attend, what academic performance they demonstrate, what title they earn, they can still be jerks.

I'll close with a joke told to me by a Department Chief at my teaching hospital, a surgical specialist with a certification in a subspecialty. For your benefit I will add that he graduated from a very prestigious (top 3) Ivy League medical school and did his training at the same institution. However, if you have the good fortune to interface with this physician, you would never know he came from such "high stock". He never drops "top tier", "rankings", "medical school name", zip. He is as humble and unassuming as they come. He is a Jew and his joke has put my training in perspective. He told it brilliantly because it involved a Jewish mother. As he told it to me the joke goes: a Jewish mother went to the beach with her young son who was wearing a hat. The child was playing on the seashore while the mother looked away, and suddenly a wave swept up the child and he was gone. The mother became alarmed, fell to her knees, prayed to G*D and begged that her son be returned. She promised she would do anything for G*D if her son were returned. Moments later the boy was returned to the seashore. However, the mother was not happy because he was not wearing his hat. She said to G*D, "You forgot the hat". End of joke

The Attending told me that in his experience with surgical residents and fellows, he can not change them. Some of them are just real jerks and will always complain, be awful to their patients and difficulty people. He told me it was not his job to change their personality but just to train them. He advised me that as I progressed with my training, to be mindful that some Attendings, some Fellows, some Residents will be just like that Jewish mother who wasn't grateful to God for the gift she received. Same applies to medical school, residency and so forth. He told me that joke last year and we keep in touch. I make it a point to touch base with him because he is the type of physician that exemplifies true scholarship and goodness in a person.

The training of physicians produced wonderful, talented, dedicated physicians prior to the ACGME changes of 2003. I worked with many of them as a clinician in the surgical setting. Of course there were jerks prior to then but it seems more so now. When the changes came, the attending surgeons howled and their attitudes towards Residents and Fellows began to cave. I no longer have contact with my former surgeons/employer because I moved several states away. However, I never forgot the passion, guts, commitment that these attendings and residents/fellows had, even if some were jerks. Overall the system worked.

Not so much today

Fargen, K. M., & Rosen, C. L. (2013). Are Duty Hour Regulations Promoting a Culture of Dishonesty Among Resident Physicians? Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 5(4), 553–555. http://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-13-00220.1

Cheers

 

[jw3600]

think Moses and parting the Red Sea with great hair

You're not funny.

 

[B_52]

This post really reminds me of how the people who are least informed, but have the most extreeme opinions and loudest mouths can really detract from what should have been an informative discussion for the OP who had a question that SDN could have genuinely been helpful for.

On one side we have @Stagg737 (a medical student, aka hasn't succesfully matched anything yet) who seems to want to blanket OP with his take on carrib graduates and offer no actual information regarding a match to ENT, with only insulting rhetoric to back up his nonsense. On the other hand we have @cellsaver (presumably also not a successful resident given their naivate) who is shouting that everyone is special and can match ENT, but carrib grads are especially special backing it up with emotional dialogue.

Meanwhile @educ8r and @Raryn who are actual attendings (aka more experienced than you knuckledraggers) are the only ones giving sound guidance backed with legitimate statistical and imperical evidence, but their voices are drowned out by the riffraff, and the extra riffraff excited by the riffraff.

really reminds me of how society as a whole is unwinding, and here I thought aspiring physicians might be above that sort of nonsense.

 

[ChordaEpiphany]

.

 

[cbrons]

Congrats on your good score. Take a look at 2016 charting the match for IMG. 5 US IMGs tried for otolaryngology that year. You can imagine the self selection. 3 were successful. Mean step 1 score of the matched US IMGs was 231. Take home is that there's a lot more to a successful match in ENT than a board score (this applies to both IMG and AMG by the way). Of note is the average 16.3 research experiences of the matched US IMGs.

This is the only relevant information here. Based on this seems research is very important.

Sent from my SM-N910P using SDN mobile

 

[sliceofbread136]

Be sure to apply a back up specialty as well

 

[BarcaBest23]

I'd say next steps include:

1. destroy all clerkships
2. take 1 year between 3rd and 4th to do research and get as many pubs as possible
3. Slay Step 2 similar to what you did on Step 1
4. Do as many away rotations as possible and do well in them
5. Apply, interview, match...
6. Enjoy picking others' boogers in ENT residency

 

[WedgeDawg]

Please keep conversation respectful and professional.

 

[VisionaryTics]

Don't forget about the ear wax. So much ear wax.

Sometimes wax is nice.

You know all those really complicated medicine patients that come in with 800 problems that you cant' fix and you have 10 minutes to try to figure out how to do everything? That sucks.

Contrast:
"We're cleaning out some wax today? Great, have a seat."
*scoop out wax in silence for 5 minutes*
"Okay, avoid q-tips, and give us a call if you any issues. Take care."

 

[iceman55]

You realize that there is a difference between people arguing for better working conditions which will improve their patient's outcomes and people complaining that they can't get the residency they want even though they're significantly weaker applicants right? I'm not saying OP is one of those people or that there isn't bias/discrimination, but if you really think the average Carib student is on par with the average US MD/DO you aren't very familiar with many medical students or the differences in quality of their education.

US MD>>>DO = Caribbean


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[y123]

Some IMGs that matched into super competitive specialties already finished the same residency in their home countries.

 

[Stagg737]

This post really reminds me of how the people who are least informed, but have the most extreeme opinions and loudest mouths can really detract from what should have been an informative discussion for the OP who had a question that SDN could have genuinely been helpful for.

On one side we have @Stagg737 (a medical student, aka hasn't succesfully matched anything yet) who seems to want to blanket OP with his take on carrib graduates and offer no actual information regarding a match to ENT, with only insulting rhetoric to back up his nonsense. On the other hand we have @cellsaver (presumably also not a successful resident given their naivate) who is shouting that everyone is special and can match ENT, but carrib grads are especially special backing it up with emotional dialogue.

Meanwhile @educ8r and @Raryn who are actual attendings (aka more experienced than you knuckledraggers) are the only ones giving sound guidance backed with legitimate statistical and imperical evidence, but their voices are drowned out by the riffraff, and the extra riffraff excited by the riffraff.

really reminds me of how society as a whole is unwinding, and here I thought aspiring physicians might be above that sort of nonsense.

Maybe you missed my actual responses to the OP, but I never "blanketed OP with my take on Carib grads", I was addressing the misinformation given by another user you mentioned who seems to be in disagreement with everyone else on this thread. I did not provide "imperical" evidence because the best source (charting the outcomes) was already given by another poster. I'm also going off of what PDs look for in a candidate based on directly talking to program directors and residents. So sorry, but I'm not about to give the names of PDs on an anonymous forum. If you think the rhetoric is insulting then I'll give you as many links/data points as you want and show you my statements weren't nonsense at all. Maybe it comes across as insulting, but the truth isn't always rainbows and butterflies. I'll also point out that the advice I gave to OP was backed up by both attendings you tagged, so other than you not liking the tone of my posts in regards to the average Carib applicant (which, for the third time, OP is not), I really don't get why you're so triggered by my posts.

 

[B_52]

Maybe you missed my actual responses to the OP, but I never "blanketed OP with my take on Carib grads", I was addressing the misinformation given by another user you mentioned who seems to be in disagreement with everyone else on this thread. I did not provide "imperical" evidence because the best source (charting the outcomes) was already given by another poster. I'm also going off of what PDs look for in a candidate based on directly talking to program directors and residents. So sorry, but I'm not about to give the names of PDs on an anonymous forum. If you think the rhetoric is insulting then I'll give you as many links/data points as you want and show you my statements weren't nonsense at all. Maybe it comes across as insulting, but the truth isn't always rainbows and butterflies. I'll also point out that the advice I gave to OP was backed up by both attendings you tagged, so other than you not liking the tone of my posts in regards to the average Carib applicant (which, for the third time, OP is not), I really don't get why you're so triggered by my posts.

That was a much better and more respectful rhetoric. I'm glad you swallowed your pride, and I accept your apology.

 

[B_52]

US MD>>>DO = Caribbean


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It's probably more like US MD > DO >> Carribean = (most) European IMG >> non US citizen foreign medical graduates. Unless you're a rural primary care warrior, then all bets are off.

 

[Stagg737]

That was a much better and more respectful rhetoric. I'm glad you swallowed your pride, and I accept your apology.

2/10, try harder.

 

[iceman55]

It's probably more like US MD > DO >> Carribean = (most) European IMG >> non US citizen foreign medical graduates. Unless you're a rural primary care warrior, then all bets are off.

From talking to multiple program directors it seems that most decent to well regarded academic institutions use a filtering system where DOs and IMGs get filtered out and only very few are offered interviews however, this may not be the case in less competitive field like Famlily med. The bottom line is that they dont want there program to come off as less competitive


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[educ8r]

From talking to multiple program directors it seems that most decent to well regarded academic institutions use a filtering system where DOs and IMGs get filtered out and only very few are offered interviews however, this may not be the case in less competitive field like Famlily med. The bottom line is that they dont want there program to come off as less competitive


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Except that DO have their own otolaryngology positions.
Also, for the record, I'm a resident not an attending. Flattered though.
Edit: Also, I think OP had a good question. Shame the thread got derailed so badly.

 

[Stagg737]

From talking to multiple program directors it seems that most decent to well regarded academic institutions use a filtering system where DOs and IMGs get filtered out and only very few are offered interviews however, this may not be the case in less competitive field like Famlily med. The bottom line is that they dont want there program to come off as less competitive


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

This is very dependent on the field, the type of program (academic vs. community), region of the country, "tier" of the program, as well as general variance between programs. Sure, there are programs that will auto-filter DOs and IMGs/FMGs, but this is far less common than filtering applicants based on actual stats (which DOs and IMGs tend to be lower than USMDs on average). Saying "most decent to well regarded academic institutions filter DOs/IMGs" is a bit of an exaggeration. Yes, there are programs that don't accept DOs, but there are DOs at even the best institutions in the country (that includes MGH, Yale, Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, etc.). To add to this, a lot of people on here and irl have been saying that the current merger is likely to favor US trained medical students and will likely make it tougher for IMGs or FMGs to match. Generally speaking, the "hierarchy" seems to be US MD >> DO >>>> IMGs/FMGs (though I've seen quite a few attendings say that there is an exception for FMGs coming from certain universities like Tel Aviv b/c the university has a great reputation and their graduates who apply in the U.S. tend to be superstars).

 

[seanye_west]

I didn't expect this thread to get this much attention. But it seems that the take away from my question is that for a competitive speciality like ENT it takes a lot more than having a good step 1 score, and it will take a lot of work and dedication to make myself (or any non-US grad) competitive to match. Trying to find some research opportunities, doing plenty of away rotations and doing well at them, make a lot of connections, and having some luck is the recipe to match successfully. And dont forget to have a solid back-up plan because regardless of all of the above the chances of matching successfully (based on published statistics) are still not on your side.

If I missed anything, please let me know

 

[cellsaver]

If I missed anything, please let me know

I haven't read all of the comments on here but did you search PubMed? There are quite a few new studies published on this topic in 2016 and 2017 that may or may not provide some insight.

Standardized letters of recommendation and successful match into otolaryngology.
Kimple AJ1, McClurg SW1, Del Signore AG1, Tomoum MO1,2, Lin FC3, Senior BA1.
Laryngoscope. 2016 May;126(5):1071-6. doi: 10.1002/lary.25637. Epub 2016 Feb 3.

Associations between Otolaryngology Applicant Characteristics and Future Performance in Residency or Practice: A Systematic Review.
Bowe SN1, Laury AM2, Gray ST1,3.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2017 Mar 1:194599817698430. doi: 10.1177/0194599817698430

The State of the Otolaryngology Match: A Review of Applicant Trends, "Impossible" Qualifications, and Implications.
Bowe SN1, Schmalbach CE2, Laury AM3.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2017 Mar 1:194599817695804. doi: 10.1177/0194599817695804.​

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Will "taking" a year off to do research hurt my chances in matching into another speciality the following year if I dont happen to match in ENT?

This hasn't been discussed yet, and the answer is probably yes. That's one of the problems with trying for something competitive like ENT. You'll need to do a bunch of ENT research, ENT rotations, and maybe 1-2 years of ENT research after medical school to get a spot. If you get a spot, great! If you don't, applying to another field can be difficult. It depends upon what you're second choice is. If it's something completely different like EM, you may get no interviews when they see your application with all that ENT work on it. There are plenty of people who want EM, PD's don't need to consider someone who is picking it as a second option. If you're interested in General Srgery, that might be less of an issue -- it's a better argument that if you can't get ENT you want GS so you can still be in the OR.

Picked EM as an example. The less competitive the specialty is, the less of an issue this will be. But the less choice you will have. Have an application that is all about IM with board scores like that from a carib school and you'll get Univ programs to interview you. Same thing but with ENT rotations, ENT research, and a 1-2 year break for more research and you'll get no IM Univ interviews.