PGY-1 residents in The University of Kansas OTOHNS Residency Program complete one year of training in an integrated OTOHNS Surgery internship under the supervision of the department Residency Program Director. Residents rotate at The University of Kansas Hospital, St. Luke's Hospital, Children's Mercy, the Kansas City VA Medical Center, and Truman Medical Center. 

PGY-1 residents spend 6 one-month rotations on Otolaryngology including:  

• KU Blue  

• KU Red  

• University Health Otolaryngology 

• VAMC Otolaryngology 

• St. Luke’s Otolaryngology  

• Children’s Mercy Hospital Otolaryngology 

The remaining six months are spent rotating in the following clinical areas:  

• 2-months of Critical Care 

• 2-months of General Surgery at University Health 

• 1-month Vascular Surgery at the VAMC 

• 1-month Plastic Surgery 

• 1-month Neurological Surgery 

PGY-1 residents are an important part of our team, and we strive to get them early exposure to the operating room, clinic and all aspects of patient care.  

In the PGY-2 year, residents experience the breadth and depth of the specialty. Rotations include: 

• 2-months on KU Blue 

• 3-months on KU Red  

• 3-months at the VA 

• 3-months at Children's Mercy Hospital  

• 1-month on KU Purple 

Residents take primary call during the PGY-2 year. 

The PGY-2s are integral members of all services. They spend time both in the ambulatory clinics as well as the OR and are often first line for seeing inpatient consults. Typical cases for PGY2 would include lymph node biopsy, direct laryngoscopy, incision and drainage of abscesses, myringotomy with tube placement, adenotonsillectomy, tracheostomy, excision of congenital neck masses, and routine laryngoscopy/bronchoscopy. They are also assisting with more complex surgeries while on rotation.  

In the PGY-2 year, residents begin to build their clinical and surgical skills. Residents typically finish the year having performed 700-800 surgeries. 

PGY-2 residents attend the AO Management of Facial Trauma course in anticipation of increased participation in FPRS cases during the PGY-3 year. 

Residents assume increased teaching responsibilities for junior residents and medical students in the PGY-3 year. PGY-3 rotations include:  

• 3-months on KU Blue 

• 2-months on KU Purple 

• 1-month on KU Red  

• 2-months at CMH 

• 1-month at SLH 

• 3-months on Research 

PGY-3 residents begin to perform limited endoscopic sinus procedures and work on facial trauma cases. In addition, residents assist in increasingly complex oncologic procedures. Residents begin to have increased autonomy and manage more complex general otolaryngology and head and neck cases. PGY-3 residents run their own service while on rotation at St. Luke's Hospital (SLH), while experiencing a wide variety of General Otolaryngology cases, to include thyroidectomy, FESS and sleep surgery. 

PGY-3 residents also attend a Sinus Course early in the year, providing them a foundation in endoscopic sinus skills prior to performing in FESS. 

During the PGY-3 year, OTOHNS residents have a dedicated three-month block of time for research, which is supervised by Dr. Frank Materia. The Resident Research Committee monitors the research and the results are presented at the department's Graduation Day Research Symposium. 

During the fourth year, residents take on more administrative responsibility and a greater leadership role in the department, while significantly expanding their surgical skills. Rotations include:  

• 3-months on KU Blue 

• 3-months at UH 

• 2-months on KU Red 

• 1-month on KU Purple 

• 2-months at SLH 

• 1-month at CMH 

PGY-4 residents increasingly perform major surgical procedures such as revision sinus surgery, facial plastic surgery, phonosurgery, tympanomastoidectomies, and major head and neck oncologic/reconstructive procedures. While a large part of the PGY-4 year is spent in the operating room, PGY-4 residents continue to spend time in clinic to maximize the longitudinal exposure to OTOHNS outpatient subspecialties and pre- and post-operative care. 

PGY-4 residents start taking senior call and are responsible for creating the entire resident call schedule. This new role helps them grow their leadership skills and mature into capable otolaryngologists. 

PGY-5 residents preside as the Chiefs on the following services:  

• 3-months on KU Blue 

• 3-months on KU Red 

• 3-months on Purple 

• 3-months on VAMC  

The chief resident is responsible for maintaining the highest standards of care while supervising the management of all hospitalized OTOHNS patients, ER patients, and inpatient consults. 

Surgically, the chief resident participates in the most complex procedures including major head and neck/reconstructive operations, skull-based procedures, facial plastic procedures, laryngeal framework surgery, and neurotology cases. Chiefs are responsible for scheduling OTOHNS resident OR assignments for their service. Under the Program Director's supervision, they assure even distribution of surgical case types throughout the residency to allow uniform development of resident surgical skills. 

All chief residents attend the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Annual Meeting in the fall and are the guests of honor at the departmental Graduation dinner in June. 

Our faculty are dedicated to the academic development and mentorship of our residents. It is our goal to give residents a comprehensive experience in all areas of the specialty in order for residents to become independent and knowledgeable clinicians and surgeons. Residents are given significant, but well-supervised latitude in the management of both clinical and operative cases. Clinical, teaching, and research activities are closely monitored by OTOHNS faculty with residents gaining increasing responsibility according to training level and capability. 

Formal evaluations are performed at the mid-point of 2-3 month rotations and at the end of every rotations. Global assessments based on the six ACGME clinical competencies are included in these evaluations. Semi-annual summaries are transcribed, along with duty hour calculations, operative experience report summaries, and in-training exam results. The Program Director and Co-Associate Program Directors review these assessments and provide constructive criticism to each resident confidentially during the semi-annual reviews. In addition, semi-annual 360 degree evaluations are also provided, which include input from patients, nursing, and administrative staff. All residents complete confidential evaluations of the teaching faculty. These evaluations become a part of the faculty's permanent record and are considered important evidence of the faculty's teaching and mentoring abilities. 

Resident performance on the American Board of Otolaryngology in-training examination is used along with the above evaluations in the overall assessment of individual residents. The annual in-training examination helps to show how successfully each resident has integrated material from the curriculum. A high level of performance on this exam is expected from residents. Performance on this test is predictive of ultimate resident performance on the American Board of Otolaryngology Certification Examination. At the end of the residency, the Chair and/or Program Director perform exit interviews of all outgoing residents. 

Each year, the department holds a faculty and resident retreat. Faculty-resident group discussions are held, and all aspects of the residency program are openly examined. 

All residents (PGY-1 through PGY-5) participate in an educational program based on the American Board of Otolaryngology (ABO) Curriculum and the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Core Competency Curriculum. 

At the core of our educational program are didactic conferences. On Monday evenings, all residents attend conference at KUMC. The didactic program is based on a two-year cycle, ensuring that each resident is exposed to core concepts in OTO-HNS at least twice during training. The didactic program is reviewed and updated annually to reflect the most current requirements and recommendations of the ACGME and ABO. Additionally, the OTO-HNS department sponsors a year-long Grand Rounds series on the third Monday of each month. Presenters include invited faculty from KU and other programs across the nation. 

Didactics are supplemented with instruction focused on surgical skill developments. Faculty put on trauma drilling courses, airway courses and facial plastic courses throughout the year to enforce hands-on learning. Additionally, residents attend national and regional courses on facial trauma and endoscopic sinus surgery. 

In addition to our Monday night didactics, our residents also participate in monthly Patient Safety and Quality Conference, quarterly journal clubs, and case conferences. 

Journal club is a roundtable review of specific subjects and involves discussion of pertinent literature. Journal clubs are hosted by the faculty three to four times per academic year. 

The Patient Safety and Quality conference takes place monthly. It involves discussion of pertinent OTOHNS cases from program institutions. Other conferences include the multidisciplinary Head and Neck Tumor Board and Thyroid Tumor Board. OTOHNS faculty, residents and nurses, as well as representatives of Neuroradiology, Radiation Oncology, Medical Endocrinology, Pathology, and Social Services attend the biweekly Tumor Boards. Similar multidisciplinary Tumor Boards occur at VAMC, SLMC and TMC. 

Embedded in the Otolaryngology Conference Curriculum is our ACGME Core Competency Curriculum that is based on a 48 month cycle. The Core Competency Curriculum encompasses training in the ACGME identified competencies. This includes Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Practice Based Learning and Improvement, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Professionalism and Systems-Based Practice. Residents actively participate in all conferences and are asked to comment on these presentations, assisting faculty in their ability to upgrade and improve the lectures on a regular basis. 

The clinical schedule at all institutions is adjusted to allow attendance at all educational events. Additionally, residents are encouraged to attend and present at the AAO-HNS Annual Meeting, the Annual Association for Research in Otolaryngology Meeting, the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings, Society for Ear, Nose and Throat Advances in Children Meeting, the annual Kansas City Otolaryngology Society meeting, the Pediatric Consortium and the Midwest Head and Neck Consortium.