To identify predictors of practice type and location after neurotology fellowship based on demographics and educational history.

Cross-sectional analysis.

Conference programs from the American Neurotology Society Spring Meeting from 2016 to 2022.

Percentage of neurotologists who pursued academic careers.

A total of 114 neurotology fellows were identified. Of the 98 individuals included in final analysis, 64 (65%) pursued academic careers. Fellows most likely to enter academic practice trained at a residency program ranked in the top 50% based on Doximity residency rankings by reputation (74 versus 45%, p < 0.01) or graduated from a residency program with a neurotology fellowship (82 versus 56%, p < 0.01). Graduates from fellowship programs in the Northeast were most likely to enter academic careers (83%). Fifty percent of neurotologists practiced in the same region as their residency training, and 48% practiced the same region as their fellowship. The region with the highest number of practicing neurotology graduates was the South (47%).

Residency program ranking and residency institutions with neurotology fellowships were the leading predictors of academic career placement in the field of neurotology. Many neurotologists tend to stay in a similar geographical location to where they underwent medical training.