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Video

Care Equity, Quality, and Safety

(A113) Current State of Florida’s Otolaryngology Workforce

Monday, October 13, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
Location: OTO EXPO, Posters

    Presenting Author(s)

  • AA

    Avraham E. Adelman, BS

    Medical Student
    Florida Atlantic University Schmidt College of Medicine
    Boca Raton, Florida, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • AK

    Anwar Khan, N/A

    Florida State University College of Medicine, United States

  • Kirollos Armosh, BS

    Medical Student
    University of Florida College of Medicine
    Gainesville, Florida, United States

  • JL

    John T. Lanza, MD

    Physician Member
    ENT & Allergy of Florida
    Port St. lucie, Florida, United States

    • Senior Author(s)

  • BL

    Brian C. Lobo, MD

    Associate Professor of Advanced Rhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery
    University of Florida
    Gainesville, FL, United States

Disclosure(s):
Avraham E. Adelman, BS: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Kirollos Armosh, BS: No relevant relationships to disclose.


Introduction: The current state of the otolaryngology workforce in Florida has not been characterized; detailed analysis may help inform future initiatives to improve access to care.

Methods: Expanding on the model of a recent analysis of the Pennsylvania otolaryngology workforce (Sciscent et al., 2024), the American Academy of Otolaryngology and Center for Medicare and Medicaid databases were queried to collect practice data from otolaryngologists actively practicing in Florida. The 2023 Rural‐Urban Continuum Codes were used for county population data and to categorize metropolitan (codes 1‐3) and non-metropolitan counties (codes 4‐9).

Results: There were a total of 605 otolaryngologists across 67 counties (45 metropolitan, 22 non-metropolitan). They were 82.1% male, 37.7% fellowship-trained, and 91.6% held an M.D. degree. The most common fellowships were facial plastics (27.5%), head and neck (23.2%), pediatric otolaryngology (18.5%), and neurotology (14.6%). The most common states for residency training were Florida (20.0%), New York (12.1%), and Pennsylvania (7.4%). Metropolitan counties (20.8 million people) had 600 otolaryngologists, with an average of 2.87 otolaryngologists per 100,000 people (/100k). Most were in counties designated by code 1 (n=401, 66.3%). Non-metropolitan counties (658k people) had 5 otolaryngologists, with an average of 0.76/100k. There were no otolaryngologists practicing in 7 metropolitan and 18 non-metropolitan counties. Academic settings accounted for 11.6% of otolaryngology practices, of which laryngology was most (54.5%) and facial plastics was least (6.3%) fellowship represented.

Conclusions: There is a notable lack of otolaryngologists in Florida’s non-metropolitan counties, with 25 counties not having a single otolaryngologist. With this updated understanding, we aim to aid initiatives to increase access to otolaryngology services in these underserved areas. Further analysis will incorporate additional databases to provide a more comprehensive and detailed assessment of the current workforce.