Our mission is to provide outstanding, cutting-edge clinical care, research, and state-of-the-art training in Otolaryngology

Research training, as required by the American Board of Otolaryngology, is individualized. We believe that scholarly activity is a critical component of our educational program which we foster in several ways. First there is a four-month required research block in the PGY 3 year which includes call responsibilities. A resident may choose to complete "bench top" laboratory studies or clinical studies under the guidance of a departmental faculty member and the resident research committee. Preparation for this research time begins at the start of their time with us, with an invitation to participate in the research committee meeting. This group of faculty, overseen by Dr. Rennie, helps steer the resident through choosing a project, writing it up, funding requests, and IRB process. The resident presents updates on the project progress and the final paper.

Goals and Objectives for the Resident-Research Rotation

1. To provide the resident with a problem-solving approach that is based on scientific methodology that permits a problem to be identified and described clearly, a possible solution to be tested objectively, and the outcome of the test to be interpreted effectively;
2. To familiarize the resident with the procedures of experimental study including data-gathering techniques, statistical-processing strategies, and hypothesis-testing approaches;
3. To familiarize the resident with computer-based applications related to literature searches, net-work communication capabilities, operation of experimental protocols for data acquisition, application of spread-sheet and database software for processing resulting data, and analyzing response measures using the appropriate statistical tests; and,
4. To provide the resident with an organized strategy toward preparing a written report of an experiment that is suitable for publication.

The overall objective is to provide the resident with a set of unbiased tools with which he/she can optimally organize the large quantity of information that is normally available from medical tests about a patient's problem(s). Adopting such an organized approach targets focus on information most relevant toward selecting an effective treatment strategy. In addition, the resident will be prepared to apply such a set of objective tools to the enormous literature that is available in the field in order to critically evaluate the information that is most useful for understanding patient problems. Finally, by performing a focused experimental study and participating in the subsequent stages of writing up the results for both publication and presentation at a professional meeting, the resident will gain a useful understanding about the academic bases of otolaryngological medicine.

The committee also reviews all other research presentations. The department supports travel, housing and registration to major meetings for residents who have scientific presentations accepted. In addition, in 2008, we began an annual resident research day. A guest speaker is invited and each of the residents is required to present a ten-minute presentation on a clinical or basic science research area. They submit abstracts prior to the event for approval by the Research Committee and an abstract book is created for the day. Awards are given for the best basic science and clinical research presentation.

The purpose of this research period is to instruct the resident how to complete and publish original research in a peer-reviewed otolaryngology journal; residents are encouraged to pursue a topic of personal interest in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Residents are expected to publish in well-known peer-reviewed journals such as Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Archives of Otolaryngology and Laryngoscope.