(1103) Feelings on Otomatch: Sentiment on the Medical Student ENT Interest Forum

Introduction: Otomatch is an online forum for medical students interested in otolaryngology. Assessing trends in content and sentiment on the site can show residency programs more about pre-intern year exposure to ENT.

Methods: Otomatch is organized with a spreadsheet for each application cycle beginning in the Spring. Eight spreadsheet years (2017-2025) were collected, with each categorized into sub-sheets dedicated to specific topics (eg, general chat, away rotation impressions, A vs B program). Quantitative analysis was performed, including number of posts (entries in first column) and comments (in subsequent columns). Sentiment analysis was performed using VADER, a Python library. Qualitative thematic analysis was performed using grounded theory qualitative methods.

Results: From eight spreadsheets, there were a total of 286 subsheets. In total, there were 25,072 posts and 30,489 comments, with an average of 3,134 posts and 3,811 comments per spreadsheet, with the most posts and comments in 2020-2021. The “General chat” subsheet was most frequently used throughout the eight spreadsheets. Number of comments per post, a measure of engagement, was highest in 2017-2018 (2.62) and lowest in 2020-21 (0.86). Qualitative themes included program-specific information requests, application advice, interview logistics, and research year information. VADER sentiment analysis found that 2017-2018’s general chat was more negative than all other years’ general chats except 2018-2019 (p < 0.05). Interview impressions were also significantly more negative in 2017 and 2018 than 2020-2024 (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: This assessment of Otomatch over the last eight years reveals that the site has become more positive over time. Further, themes demonstrate the site to be a communal environment where information is sought and given.