Residency at the University of Rochester
Rochester, New York

The following material has been assembled to offer you detailed information concerning the Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Residency at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. We are extremely proud of our residency training program and encourage your interest in this residency which offers a strong well rounded program in all aspects of Otolaryngology.

Mission Statement:

Advancement to Departmental status presents opportunities for current and new faculty to flourish in their roles as academic health center physicians, scientists and educators. Our mission statement recognized the Department’s aspirations and intentions that in turn drive its program and financial futures. The goal of the Department is to be a leading national Otolaryngology Head and Neck Department focused on state of the art clinical care, research and education in an Academic Medical Center community. In order to achieve and maintain these goals, the Department is organized to:

• Provide comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services for diseases, communication disorders, and aesthetic needs of the head and neck.
• Conduct basic and clinical research into the cause, prevention and treatment of those afflictions and to disseminate these findings; and
• Foster the professional development of physicians, scientists and health care professionals.

The following is the philosophy of this residency program also generated for our strategic plan.

Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery is a broad area of medicine dedicated to the treatment of diseases and disorders of the structures of the head and neck and sensory organs. The department strives to achieve this through research, training and sharing of knowledge with its own and allied fields. From its inception the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Rochester Medical Center has demonstrated expertise:

• Providing state of the art medical and surgical patient care, clinical and basic research and a residency training program of the highest quality.
• Providing outstanding leadership in the advancement of clinical care, research and teaching.
• Demonstrating concern for personal enrichment and professional development of all members of Otolaryngology and those with whom they come into professional contact.
• Offering strong continuing education programs.
• Expert and timely responsiveness to consultative needs of our professional colleagues.
• Empathetic and generous chairmen who have set the tone for a spirit of trust and cooperation among its faculty and staff which has resulted in a satisfying, cooperative and productive work environment.
• Engaging enthusiastically in self-evaluation and exploration that lead to change and new program developments.

Program Structure and Faculty – The residency is housed in two hospitals: Strong Memorial Hospital with 750 beds and Highland Hospital with 220 beds. Ten full time and one part time faculty comprise the clinical faculty.

Faculty:

• Timothy D. Doerr, M.D. - Wayne State University / University of Michigan (Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery), Assistant Professor of Surgery
• Paul O. Dutcher, M.D. - University of Rochester/House Otologic Group (Neurotology), Associate Professor of Surgery.
• Robert D. Frisina, Ph.D.- Syracuse University (Neuroanatomy/Neurophysiology), Associate Chairman for Research.
• C. Michael Haben, MD., M.Sc.
• James Hadley, MD., F.A.C.S.
• Arthur S. Hengerer, M.D. - Upstate Medical Center/Boston Children's Hospital (Pediatric Otolaryngology), Professor of Surgery, Chairman, Division of Otolaryngology.
• Chase Miller, M.D.
• John D. Norante, M.D. - University of Rochester/University of Iowa (Head & Neck Surgery), Associate Professor of Surgery.
• Saurin R. Popat, M.D. - University of Toronto, University of Bern (Head & Neck Surgery), Assistant Professor of Surgery
• Ronald S. Pulli, M.D. - University of Rochester, Assistant Professor of Surgery
• John W. Wayman, M.D. - University of Rochester/Michigan Ear Institute (Neuro-otologic Surgery), Assistant Professor of Surgery
• Kenneth R. Whittemore, Jr., M.D.- Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Harvard School of Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston (Pediatrics), Assistant Professor of Surgery

All residents have assignments at the two hospitals during their four years of Otolaryngology training. During each rotation the residents have the opportunity to participate in the medical and surgical care of all surgery for all staff and private cases. The attending surgeons are always available for operating room and clinic coverage on a daily basis and the same applies for consultative and emergency services throughout the day and night. Direct supervision is always provided in this program. During each year the following rotation structure has been created with residents at various levels of training:

Rotations:

1st Year
The first year is spent on surgical rotations in neurosurgery, plastic surgery, vascular and general surgery, anesthesia, ICU, Otolaryngology and trauma. This year is under the direction of the Department of Otolaryngology with cooperation from the Department of Surgery.

2nd Year
Rotations in Audiology and Vestibular training and ten months of otolaryngology at the Clinton Woods facility for outpatient training and at Strong Memorial Hospital. Develop potential research project with the Research Division.

3rd Year
Clinical rotations at Strong Memorial Hospital with outpatient responsibilities at the Clinton Woods facility. Rotations in pathology, oral maxillofacial, Westfall Surgery Center and 4 months in the research lab.

4th Year
Eight months clinical otolaryngology at Strong Memorial Hospital with clinical responsibilities at the Clinton Woods facility, three months at Highland Hospital, and a one month radiation oncology rotation.

5th Year
Chief Resident Year – 9 months at Strong Memorial Hospital and 3 months at Highland Hospital. 6 months of this time is spent as the administrative chief resident.

While on clinical rotation, the resident have the opportunity to see cases generated from approximately 40,000 outpatient private visits and 2,800 outpatient clinic visits per year. Surgery volume resulting from this approaches 4,200 surgical cases which the residents participate in throughout the year. A full spectrum of clinical cases are available for teaching and residents finishing the program perform approximately 1,800 cases as operating surgeons. An important feature of this residency is that it offers an extensive general training in Otolaryngology with exposure to fellowship trained faculty in all sub specialties available in Otolaryngology. This has resulting in a high level of clinical case material and resulting training.

The Clinical and Research Commitments:

Four months of dedicated research time has been included in the third year and is expected to involve a basic science or translational research project. A number of these projects are ongoing within the department for the residents to be involved in. It is expected the research effort will result in a paper for national meeting presentation and publication.

Meetings & Conferences:

• Attending Clinical Rounds – Daily for consults and inpatients, every other Saturday morning.
• Basic science lectures – one hour, two evening per week
• Journal Club – one session per month
• Head & Neck Tumor conference – three times per month
• Neurotology Conference – 4 times per year
• Visiting professors – 2 times per year
• Saturday laboratory sessions in temporal bone drilling or head and neck anatomy or other appropriate topics.
• Otolaryngology Grand Rounds – 2 hours once/week Sept – June

During the past 15 years, approximately half of the graduating residents have accepted fellowships. These are broken down into two pediatric fellowships, one neurotology fellowship, six facial plastic fellowships, three largyngology and four head and neck fellowships. The remainder of the resident have entered successful general otolaryngology practices around the country.

Applying to our Program:

The Department of Otolaryngology participates in the NRMP. Because it provides a uniform date for decisions about residency selection for both applicants, the NRMP matches eliminate the pressure that might otherwise fall upon applicants and programs to make decisions before all of their options are known. The Match Participation Agreement outlines the guidelines and procedures developed to accomplish this objective and should be reviewed carefully.

The NRMP can best accomplish its goals when every program involved in the selection of applicants participates fully in the Match. The NRMP is a matching service and provides the mechanism for matching applicants to programs according to the preferences expressed by both parties on their individualized rank order list.

There are three steps in a match: registration, ranking and results. The entire match process is conducted on the web through the NRMP’s Registration, Ranking and Results (R3) System.

Registration:
Each match has a separate schedule. To learn when registration begins, go to the Schedule of Dates for all NRMP matches. To register for any of the matches offered by the NRMP, an applicant must go to www.nrmp.org and click on the register/login button. The website will walk you through the required steps. Results will be posted on Match Day at 1:00PM eastern time on the NRMP website or can be obtained by contacting the NRMP office. Information will include: where applicants matched and what programs they matched to.

Anticipating that you choose to apply to our institution, we will be in touch with you by the accepted date for interview notification.

Benefits:
Our Administrator, Sandi Hoffman sandi_hoffman@urmc.rochester.edu has this information and can answer questions you may have. You may also contact our residency coordinator, Alicia DelMastro alicia_delmastro@urmc.rochester.edu. The phone number is (585)758-5700.

Vacation:
Each resident will be given four weeks vacation per year to be arranged between mid-July and mid-June of the academic year.

We hope this information has been useful to you and look forward to hearing from you if you select to apply to the University of Rochester Otolaryngology Residency Program.