ORCID

0000-0002-4439-8108 (Baldassari), 0000-0002-2446-6126 (Derkay)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.1016/j.ijporl.2026.112970

Publication Title

International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

Volume

Advance online publication

Pages

25 pp.

Abstract

Objective

To provide an updated comprehensive assessment of the Pediatric Otolaryngology workforce in the United States inclusive of compensation, productivity, practice patterns, and on-call burden.

Study Design

Cross-sectional electronic survey.

Methods

A structured electronic survey was developed by members of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO) Workforce and Compensation Committee. The survey evaluated six domains: demographics, compensation, workforce dynamics, productivity, on-call burden, and future priorities, and was distributed to all 480 presumedly actively-practicing, domestic ASPO members.

Results

The survey response rate was 68% (327/480). Ninety-one percent of respondents held an academic appointment with relatively equal percentages of each rank responding. The median clinical compensation was $525,000, which is a 17.4% increase from the 2019 ASPO survey median and 27.4% higher than the median reported by the AAO-HNS 2023 workforce survey. Median income varied by age, gender, and geographic region, but compensation per wRVU did not differ by gender. Over 80% of respondents noted increased wait times for completing patient appointments and elective surgeries. Ninety-four percent of practices employ advanced practice providers and anticipate additional hires. Difficulty filling open positions, anticipated workforce shortages, and concerns about provider retention were prevalent themes expressed by respondents.

Conclusions

Despite increasing compensation for pediatric otolaryngologists since 2019, workforce sustainability remains a pressing concern. These data provide a contemporary, specialty-specific analysis of the pediatric otolaryngology workforce that varies significantly from estimates published by large national organizations. Ongoing physician-led assessment can highlight the value of pediatric otolaryngologists and determine priorities for organizational advocacy.

Rights

© 2026 The Authors.

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License.

Original Publication Citation

Wilcox, L. J., Baldassari, C. M., Brenski, A. C., Boss, E., Carter, J., Chi, D. H., Collins, W. O., Elmaraghy, C. A., Tompkins, A. J., & Derkay, C. S. (2026). The 2025 American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology workforce and compensation survey: Current state and future directions. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2026.112970

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