Tips on Contributing to and Keeping up with Medical Research

The literature in otolaryngology and across all disciplines in medicine is an ever-growing beast, adding more and more data into the record on a perpetual basis. Some articles are must-reads; others can be safely skipped. It can seem like a haystack, impossible to sift through. And yet, physicians rely on the evidence found there to make better decisions and deliver more effective care.

Panelists gathered in a session at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) to help find ways to contribute to the evidence and sift through it to find quality. “It’s difficult to keep up; it’s hard to know what to trust,” said Kara Davis, MD, at the University of Pittsburgh. For instance, publications of human papillomavirus-related studies in head and neck cancer have increased from about 125 in 1985 to more than 400 in 2014, she said.

Private Practitioners Must Publish, Too

Sujana Chandrasekhar, MD, director of New York Otology and president of the AAO-HNS, said that it might seem too difficult, or even unnecessary, to contribute to the literature if you’re in private practice. But that’s where the greatest need for good data lies, she said, because more than half of patients get their care from private practice, compared to just 27% at academic centers.

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