Overview

The University of Chicago Otolaryngology Residency Training Program provides an outstanding clinical experience with the potential for much more. It is founded on resources that are varied and mature. The Section of Otolaryngology has produced such academic leaders as John R. Lindsay, Harold Schuknecht, Cesar Fernandez, Theodore Walsh, W. Garth Hemenway, Ralph Naunton, George Singleton, Paul Ward, John Fredrickson, Robert Kohut, George Conner, Willard Moran, Gregory Matz, Joan Zajtchuk, Horst Konrad, Lloyd Minor, Dennis Poe and James Stankiewicz.

The Otolaryngology Residency Training Program has been under the leadership of Dr. Robert Naclerio since 1994. Chief residents now graduate with experience on more than 2,000 surgical cases, which exceeds those of the average otolaryngology trainee. Additionally, our residents have an excellent balance of cases. Each operative case also represents the time of an attending physician's direct instruction and supervision. While the residents are supervised in all aspects of patient care clinic, operating room, or on consult), we also encourage their growth into independent practitioners.

The program draws on the clinical resources of the University of Chicago Hospitals and the Section of Otolaryngology as well as the academic resources of the University for the didactic teaching program. It also incorporates specialized clinical rotations. The Otolaryngology Residency Training Program has the resources and expertise to educate its incoming residents and to train them to be comprehensive, independent clinicians.

Application and Selection Process

Currently, two residents per year are accepted through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Interested applicants should complete an application provided by the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).  The Section of Otolaryngology application deadline will be the second Monday in October.  Selected applicants will be invited to interview at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Inquiries may be directed to Ernest E. Mhoon, M.D., at emhoon@surgery.bsd.uchicago.edu  or Mrs. Shanna Jones at sjones@surgery.bsd.uchicago.eduor via phone at 773-795-3158 or fax at 773-702-6809.

Residency Program Application Requirements

You must meet the following criteria in order to be considered for a residency position within the Section of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery:

U.S. Medical Graduates

1. Permanent U.S. residency or U.S. citizenship.
2. Medical school documentation (equivalent to a dean’s letter and transcripts).
3. USMLE Step 1 (USMLE Step 2 must be completed prior to the program start date).
4. Three letters of recommendation must be included with your application.

Foreign Medical Graduates

1. J-1 visa, or permanent U.S. residency, or U.S. citizenship. H-1B visa is also accepted; however, in order to qualify for H-1B visa in Illinois USMLE Step 3 must also be completed.
2. A valid ECFMG certificate (www.ecfmg.org). It typically takes one year to properly complete all ECFMG requirements for certification.
3. USMLE Steps 1, 2, and 3.
4. Medical school documentation (equivalent to a dean’s letter and transcripts).
5. Three letters of recommendation must be included with your application.

Please contact your Medical School or the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates for instructions about the application submission process.

Otolaryngology Residency Didactic Program

In the course of four years of Otolaryngology training, the residents learn the latest methods of diagnosis and treatment of congenital, infectious, metabolic, and neoplastic diseases of the ear, nose, throat, head, and neck. By the time of graduation, their expertise encompasses head and neck cancer, facial plastic surgery, trauma and reconstructive surgery, rhinology and sinus surgery, otology/neurotology, skull base surgery, surgery of the salivary, thyroid and parathyroid glands, laryngology, bronchoesophagology, allergy and immunology, pediatric otolaryngology, and speech and swallowing pathology. The residents learn to use innovative therapies such as laser surgery, radiofrequency tissue ablation, computerized image-guided endoscopic sinus surgery, transnasal esophagoscopy, microvascular surgery, osseointegrated implant surgery, cochlear implants and microneurologic procedures of the skull base.

In addition to this fund of medical knowledge, the residents are taught state-of-the-art techniques and the use of specialized equipment. They learn how to perform videostroboscopy, video-naso-endoscopy, FEES, TNE and videofluoroscopy, and how to use these techniques in the evaluation of laryngeal and velopharyngeal disorders, as well as in oropharyngeal dysmotility. The residents also learn how to conduct audiometric, tympanometric, and auditory brainstem response tests.

The residents are taught all this in weekly seminars and conferences, which occur in protected time during the regular workday. Specialists who have direct experience in their subject give didactic conferences. Drs. Naclerio, Corey and Pinto teach Allergy/Rhinology/Immunology. Drs. Baroody and Suskind teach Pediatric Otolaryngology. Drs. Stenson, Blair, Portugal, Weichselbaum, and Vokes teach Head and Neck Oncology. Dr. Mhoon teaches Otology/Neurotology. Audiology/Hearing Aids/Vestibular Testing is taught by our audiologists. Speech and Swallowing Pathology is taught by the speech language pathologists. Dr. Martin teaches special evaluation of speech disorders.

Didactic laboratory courses for residents are included each year. They are a head and neck dissection course with cadavers, temporal bone dissection course, plating and local flap workshop, endoscopic sinus surgery workshop with cadavers, and bronchoesophageal foreign-body removal in animals.

In addition to the residents' didactic lectures, continuing medical education and patient care lectures are mandatory. A head and neck oncology patient conference occurs weekly. Seminars in the principles of basic science research occur every 2 weeks. Grand rounds are given each month by specialists in their field at the Medical Center or from outside institutions. Journal Club evaluation of articles in our literature occurs each month. Morbidity and mortality review is held monthly.

Funds are also provided for residents to attend national meetings or courses, in addition to local or regional meetings. Supplemental travel money will be provided for residents who will be presenting papers, posters, abstracts or lectures.

Structure of the Otolaryngology Residency

The Otolaryngology residents spend their first year in basic surgery training at the University of Chicago Medical Center, whose reputation is renowned nationwide. They then spend 4 years in Otolaryngology training.

The standard preliminary year of basic surgery training takes place at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Usually, at least three to four months of general surgery at the Medical Center are included in the year's schedule of assignments, with additional months of general surgery experience gained during rotations at the affiliated hospitals. The current OHNS resident will also rotate on Cardiac Thoracic Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, OHNS and Neurosurgery. We include the required rotations in anesthesia, adult and pediatric intensive care unit and in the Emergency Room. Our residents evaluate the rotations each year, and changes are made when appropriate. Services are staffed so that the basic surgery resident has maximum responsibility and opportunity for growth and development. In-house, on-call assignments average every fourth night during the basic surgery residency. Formal teaching programs are offered during each assignment. During the basic surgery experience, the resident acquires expert knowledge of the pre- and post-operative care of acutely ill patients and of the principles of surgical physiology and wound management.

Residents in the first and second years of Otolaryngology spend all their time at the Medical Center. Their call averages every fourth night. Senior residents and attendings who take call from home back them up. (The University of Chicago Medical Center provides exercise facilities for house staff.) Third-year residents spend 4 months at the University doing research, then rotate to Alaska for 3 months, Southern Illinois University for 3 months, and facial plastic surgery for 2 months. The fourth-year resident is at the Medical Center full-time as the chief resident.

The dedicated Otolaryngology research faculty and the research interests of the clinical faculty plus the associated faculty within the University of Chicago Medical Center provide excellent opportunities for resident research. The interests of the basic science and clinical faculty combined encompass a wide range of research expertise in the areas of temporal bones, otology, computerized imaging, statistical analyses, allergic disease, nasal physiology, vestibular research, and oncology.

Stipends

Current salaries at The University of Chicago Medical Center for 2012-2013:

PGY1:  $50,030
PGY2:  $51,856
PGY3:  $54,133
PGY4:  $55,952
PGY5:  $58,627
PGY6:  $61,301
PGY7:  $64,491