The residency training program consists of three portions: an otolaryngology internship; dedicated research training for 1-2 years; and 4 years of clinical training in otolaryngology:

1. Otolaryngology Internship:

• The internship year is completed here at the University of Washington with rotations at 5 hospitals (UWMC, HMC, VA, Children’s, or Providence).
• The surgery rotations include ICU, pediatric surgery, neurologic surgery, plastic surgery, and general surgery. On these rotations, you will be part of a surgical team which incorporates medical students, fellows and 1-2 senior level surgical residents.
• The primary focus of this year is on learning sound principles of pre- and post-operative care with graduated increases in surgical exposure.
• YOU DO NOT NEED TO APPLY SEPARATELY for the internship. If accepted into the Otolaryngology program, the internship year will be arranged automatically. The internship year is directed by otolaryngology but is primarily based in the general surgery residency program.
• Further information regarding the general surgery residency can be found via their web site at http://depts.washington.edu/surgery/.

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2. Research Training:

• Research is incorporated in the program with a full-time postdoctoral fellowship year supported by a NIH-NIDCD training grant between the PGY-1 and PGY-2 clinical years. Regardless of the prior experience of the resident, all research will be done in conjunction with an experienced research mentor, not necessarily within our own department. The research topic and mentor is open to selection by the resident depending on their area of interest.
• The goal of the research year is for the resident to learn or refine their knowledge of research methodology and to develop a research program in their field of interest, which may encompass basic science or outcomes studies.
• Research training is an integral part of our Residency Training Program throughout the entire period of training. While this training grant supports full-time research training during one or more 1-year blocks for every resident, research time is also set aside and protected during the second year of clinical otolaryngology training, and residents are encouraged and supported to continue research productivity during each year of training. We believe that the research training needs of residents differ, depending on their prior research training and areas of interest. Therefore, we have analyzed and customized our Research Training Program in an effort to meet differing needs.
• We have added 2-year positions at the beginning of residency and post-residency research fellowships for interested individuals.

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3. Clinical Training:

• The second year of clinical training, following internship and the research year(s), includes rotations at the UWMC, HMC, and VA. The focus is on pre-operative and post-operative care of otolaryngology patients, mastering the head and neck examination, endoscopy and airway management skills and appropriate surgical cases for that year of training.
• The third year of clinical training includes rotations at Children’s, UWMC, and a research rotation. This year is designed to provide you with more individual development of skills and graduated independence. Further development of surgical skills at this level allows for more active participation in procedures as the surgeon versus surgical assistant. The dedicated research rotation allows for completion of work from the research training year or for proceeding with a different research project.
• With the fourth year of clinical training the resident rotates at UW and HMC. This year focuses on refinement of surgical technique to allow incorporation of your improved clinical sense and skills developed during your third year. More active patient management and decision making occurs this year particularly during your chief rotation at HMC. Teaching of junior residents will also be a highlight during this year. Otology/neurotology is the focus of the remaining four-month block.
• The final year of clinical training includes rotations at the VA, and UW. The UW rotation is divided into 4 months on clinical service and 4 months of elective time to allow for rotations in areas specific to the residents interest. Two months of the elective experience will encompass a dedicated facial plastics rotation. This year truly melds your investigative skills with medical decision allowing for major responsibility at each site in daily patient care issues and in complex surgical cases. The Chief Resident will also have a role in administrative duties as well as direct involvement in junior resident teaching.

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Resident Resources

• Electronic Medical Records are available at all clinical sites and have improved patient safety and resident access to patient information. The current model, ORCA at UWMC and HMC allows for improved patient safety, allergy alerts and review of dictated notes. The residents for the first time have access to their own dictations which they are able to edit and then forward to attendings for final review. This is considered an important learning tool. Computerized physician-order entry is anticipated to start in the next year. This already occurs in the VA and CHMC systems.
• The UWMC and HMC radiology department incorporated a PACS system for on-line viewing of all radiographs. This has resulted in paperless radiology departments with individual monitoring capability from home, clinics, ORS and offices. This has improved the ability to easily reference patient films, and lessened workload on residents and physicians in tracking down films for OR and tumor board review.
• UW CORES. This is a web-based system at HMC and UWMC utilized by residents to organize patient lists, store entered diagnosis, problem lists, medications and other information. This system is linked to the clinical database and will import a 48-hour block of vital signs and laboratory data. The system enables the resident to printed daily progress notes automatically which includes vital signs and laboratory values. This system can also be accessed from home during on-call hours.
• Residents have access to the award winning UW Health Sciences Library which provides a full digital interface to a collection of electronic journals as well as clinical and basic sciene search engines. Via the Healthlinks site for clinical practitioners, the resident also has access to helpful clinical resources, such as MEDLINE and Up-To-Date.
• Up to date computers are available in all resident offices, wards and clinical space. This allows for immediate access to patient care information. The department and medical center maintain up to date software to facilitate word processing and presentation formats. In addition, the department supplies LCD projectors for the conference series and departmental lectures.
• The OTOnet, resident intranet, provides a secure site for resident and faculty perusal of rotation schedules, goals and objectives for each training year, individual resident evaluations, department policy and helpful links.

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