Pediatric Otolaryngology Fellowship

APPLICATION

The Pediatric Otolaryngology Fellowship is a one-year program which accepted the first fellow in July, 2013. The fellowship period is July 1 through June 30. To be eligible for the program, applicants must have successfully completed an otolaryngology residency accredited by the ACGME, or an otolaryngology residency located in Canada and accredited by the RCPSC. Non-US residents must be eligible for a Utah State medical license as well as a J-1 visa sponsored by ECFMG.

Candidates must apply through the SF Match program. The applications are screened by a selection committee and interviews will be conducted by the pediatric otolaryngology faculty. The rank list is submitted through SF Match and the decisions are finalized by the matching program.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The fellow will be primarily hospital-based, assisting in the care of patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings. There will be flexibility in the schedule to accommodate the educational needs of the fellow. The fellow will be mentored to care for the tertiary and quaternary, complex pediatric patient in the outpatient and hospital setting, receiving input from the pediatric otolaryngology faculty as well as interdisciplinary training from the associated faculty members. This will include participation in multidisciplinary clinics and focused care for complex inpatients.

The fellow will attend the more complicated cases in the OR and assist in some less complicated cases to ensure competency and ability to teach residents. The fellow will be expected to dedicate time to developing teaching skills in OR, hospital, and clinic. Research is expected. One half-day per week will be dedicated to this need with a required publishable paper at the end of the time period. Active mentorship in research will be provided by the co-investigators.

The core fund of knowledge will be emphasized by attendance at the pediatric otolaryngology educational lecture series and multidisciplinary conferences that are held throughout the month. Exposure beyond this will be at the national meetings for pediatric and general otolaryngology.

The faculty will be involved with the fellow on daily morning rounds. This is a time for in-depth discussion of the patients as well as the fundamental issues of pathophysiology related to each case. Mentoring during these times includes a focus on professionalism, caring approach to family and child, understanding and implementation of system informatics and resources to optimize patient care, and teaching skills directed at other trainees on the team.

SURGICAL TRAINING AND RESEARCH

In the operating room, mentoring will focus on the surgical pathology, technical aspects to optimize care, new technology, and efficiency both individually and as a part of a health delivery system. The faculty will direct focus to each of the core competencies. The faculty will also be responsible for defining the focused reading in their specific areas of expertise.

One half-day each week will be free for research activities. This day may be used for meetings with the research mentors. Additional research time will be made available during the week as needed to complete projects. Each of the faculty has academic days that may also be used for these activities.

The fellow will be supervised in clinic, OR, and research by a faculty member.

The fellow will have a percentage of their time dedicated to independent practice in the clinic and operating room. This experience will allow the fellow to develop autonomy with the immediate availability of faculty members if needed.

EVALUATIONS

Because of the short nature of the fellowship, a formal evaluation of the fellow will be conducted on a quarterly basis. The evaluation will focus on each of the core competencies. The accumulated evaluation data will be discussed formally with the fellow by the Fellowship Director. As needed, corrective action will be taken to ensure the development of expertise in each of these areas. Flexibility will be afforded to achieve the necessary case volumes and clinic encounters to accomplish these goals. This information will be discussed with the fellow and will be kept on file by the program coordinator. Additionally, the faculty has made a goal to have a culture of immediate feedback. This will be done as informal discussions over the course of the day to encourage the fellow in areas of strength and to assist in improving limitations.