Current Status of Undergraduate Teaching of Otorhinolaryngology in Spain

Introduction and objective: Otolaryngology is a branch of medicine of great importance for doctors working in general practice. The goal of this paper is to analyze the otolaryngology syllabuses of the medical schools in Spain. Material and method: The data for this article were obtained from 2 sources: a) the web sites of the 27 medical schools with syllabuses available on the Internet, and b) a medline search using the terms undergraduate medical education and otolaryngology/otorhinolaryngology. Results: At all the schools consulted, otolaryngology is a core subject, in most of them a single semester course. In most cases it is taught in the 4th or 5th year (92.6 %). Undergraduate teaching in otolaryngology consists of about 30 lectures. The time available for practical teaching varies greatly between 20 and 60 hours. Conclusions: Otolaryngology in Spain is a core subject during the specialization stage of the degree, allocated a mean of 7 credits.