Welcome

Greetings from Kansas City! Whether you are an 4th year medical student navigating your path toward an Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery Residency position, or an M2 exploring ENT as a possible career choice, we are excited for you to get to know more about KU ENT. This portion of our website is dedicated to helping interested students learn about our specialty and our program.

In the fall of 2020, we were about to embark on the first ever virtual recruitment and interview season.  The Otolaryngology community was faced with the uncertainty of how to select our future trainees and colleagues, and let’s be honest, we were freaking out.  It seemed an impossible task.  And, yet, in the blink of an eye, we find ourselves already approaching the 2021-2022 interview season, excited by the possibilities of putting the lessons of 2020 to work.  Whereas we once thought that we would never be able to connect with students in the absence of in person rotations, we have discovered that we could reach a broader group of interested applicants through intentionally designed virtual rotations.  Naysayers and luddites may have lamented the idea of on-line interviews, but we have come to understand that, when the barriers of cost and travel were reduced, we were able to create opportunities for a more diverse cohort of prospective residency candidates.  We may have come to the virtual world out of necessity, but what we have learned has made us stronger and more resilient as a program and a specialty. 

I look forward to the next academic year and can’t wait to see what challenges and successes are ahead for KU OTO-HNS.  If you can't find the answers you seek or the information you are looking for on this website, drop us a line via the Request Residency Information form or send us an email. We are here to help.

Welcome to KU OTO-HNS!
Shannon M. Kraft, MD, Residency Program Director

Application

The University of Kansas School of Medicine Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OTOHNS) training program accepts four new residents each year through the National Resident Matching Program (www.nrmp.org).  Applicants must graduate from a LCME-accredited medical school in the United States or Canada and be eligible to obtain Kansas and Missouri medical licenses.  In the last three years we received between 350 and 400 submissions.  Approximately fifty applicants are invited to interview, although we increased the number of interview spots during the pandemic.  The interview experience consists of round robin interviews with program faculty and residents, with opportunities to ask questions of residents in less formal group settings.  Interviewees are ranked based on their preparedness, ability, aptitude, academic credentials and communication skills.  We were able to successfully replicate our interview process virtually during the height of the pandemic, but very much look forward to having in-person interviews again in the future.

General Information

The OTOHNS program consists of five years of OTOHNS training under the direction of the Residency Program Director Shannon Kraft, MD and Associate Program Director Justin Bond, MD.  The Department's research program is directed by the Resident Research Committee, chaired by the OTOHNS Director of Research, Dianne Durham, PhD, and Clinical Research Director Kevin Sykes, PhD, MPH. Our Clinical Competency Committee helps to ensure successful learning outcomes in our robust training program. Senior Program Coordinator Toni Holthaus, MBA provides day-to-day coordination and support for the program leadership, current residents and fellows, and alumni.

The University of Kansas Residency Program has received favorable review with commendation by the ACGME OTOHNS Residency Review Committee and our Residency Program was rewarded a ten-year cycle within the ACGME's accreditation system.

Contact

Toni Holthaus, MBA
Senior Coordinator
aholthaus@kumc.edu
(913) 588-6739