The Otorhinolaryngology Residency Program at LSUHSC is a 5 year program, including the internship year. The PGY 1 year includes 3 months of otolaryngology, in addition to Critical Care, General Surgery, Anesthesiology and Neurosurgery to name a few. Following Hurricane Katrina, the department has 3 main sites of practice, with the faculty practice being located at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Senior level residents also rotate at Allegheny General Hospital where they participate in the medical and surgical treatment of patients with diseases of the ear and lateral skull base. The extensive faculty team provides excellent support for residents during their training. Residents receive comprehensive breadth and depth of training, and the program is fully ACGME accredited. The selection process for the Otorhinolaryngology Residency Program at LSUHSC is highly competitive.

Training includes rotations at five institutions, both a public and private hospital mix. There is optimal balance of supervision and independent decision-making between the residents and faculty members. The program upholds a strong clinical emphasis consistent with LSU’s reputation for training fine clinicians.

Residents rotate through the following facilities:

• University Medical Center – Lafayette, LA
• Children’s Hospital-- New Orleans, LA
• Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center-- Baton Rouge, LA
• Earl K. Long Hospital-- Baton Rouge, LA
• Allegheny General Hospital-- Pittsburgh, PA

Didactics:

• Lectures & required reading (clinical and basic science topics)
• Conferences (weekly Otology and Tumor Board conferences; monthly didactic days)
• Annual courses (H&N Anatomy, Temporal Bone, Sinus Surgery)
• Standardized national exam

Average surgical experience for graduating chief residents from LSU:

1,400 to 1,800 cases

Description of Hospitals and Rotations

Earl K. Long Medical Center (EKLMC):

Earl K. Long Medical Center is a 149 bed hospital that is part of a statewide system of public hospitals. Following hurricane Katrina, EKLMC has assumed the role of providing care to many of the patients who were displaced from their homes in southeastern Louisiana. Earl K. Long Medical Center is a multi-specialty public hospital that offers all primary care and most surgical specialty services. This hospital draws from a broad geographic area and is staffed by full time LSU faculty as well as community otolaryngologists. Clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of general otolaryngologic diseases and head and neck cancer are the fundamental focus for this rotation. In addition, the PGY-5 resident will participate in otologic and facial plastic surgery. These residents often spend one day a week at another one of our location sites, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, where they engage in subspecialty services including head and neck oncology, skull base surgery, advanced sinus surgery and sleep medicine, in addition to voice and swallowing therapy. Didactic schedules include our monthly Didactic Day and weekly Otology and highly focused multidisciplinary Tumor Board teleconferences.

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center (OLOLRMC):

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center (OLOLRMC), sponsored by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, is a not-for-profit, tertiary care facility servicing a 12-parish service area. OLORMC is the largest private medical center in Louisiana, with 721 licensed beds. Annually, OLOLRMC serves approximately 33,035 inpatients and 276,109 outpatients. Approximately 900 physicians make up OLOLRMC’s Medical Staff and include medical and surgical sub specialists in all areas of medicine. Following Katrina it has become the center of our academic practice and residency training due to the facts listed above and based on the fact that our referral base largely comes from the surrounding areas and it is strategically located between New Orleans and Lafayette. The residents are exposed to otolarygologic subspecialty care in the areas of head and neck oncologic and reconstructive surgery, skull base surgery, advanced sinus disease and sleep medicine. The PGY 1 resident also spends his/her entire internship year at this institution. Didactic schedules include our monthly Didactic Day and weekly Otology and highly focused multidisciplinary Tumor Board teleconferences.

University Medical Center (UMC):

University Medical Center is a 146 bed hospital that serves individuals in the southwestern and central regions of the state. This extremely broad patient base provides a rich clinical experience. The resident gains an extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of general otolaryngologic diseases and head and neck cancer. The hospital is well-staffed, offering all of the primary care services as well as multiple surgical and medical subspecialties. The chief resident also participates in a private practice rotation which teaches a broad list of topics including allergy, audiology, skin care and office management. The faculty members at UMC have developed a comprehensive didactic educational schedule that includes monthly Grand Rounds, Morbidity & Mortality Conference, Journal Club, weekly bedside Chief Rounds & Tumor Board conferences. In addition, residents are expected to attend our departmental monthly Didactic Day and weekly Otology and highly focused multidisciplinary Tumor Board teleconferences.

Children's Hospital of New Orleans:

Children’s Hospital in New Orleans is Louisiana’s only full service hospital exclusively for children, offering a full range of inpatient and outpatient care. General pediatricians and a full array of pediatric specialists staff this 201 bed hospital. Critical care is provided in a 25 bed pediatric intensive care unit and a 21 bed neonatal intensive care unit, which is currently under expansion.

The resident rotations here are focused on expanding clinical experience and depth in diagnosis and treatment of pediatric otolaryngology conditions. This rotation provides residents with in-depth experience in treating special or unusual problems in normal children, and in treating common otolaryngologic problems in children with special needs. The scope of the resident’s experience at Children’s Hospital of New Orleans includes pediatric airway management, pediatric head and neck tumor management, pediatric rhinology and otology, pediatric craniofacial and plastic surgery, and general pediatric otolaryngology. The otolaryngology resident will be supervised and instructed by the staff pediatric otolaryngologist and general otolaryngologists on the LSU clinical faculty. Residents are expected to attend our departmental monthly Didactic Day and weekly Otology and highly focused multidisciplinary Tumor Board teleconferences.

LSU-Pittsburgh Ear/Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) Otology-Neurotology:

Allegheny General Hospital is a large community hospital located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The PGY 3 and PGY 4 residents during this rotation work with Dr Moises Arriaga who is a clinical Professor in our department. During this rotation, the LSU Otolaryngology resident will rotate on the service of Pittsburgh Ear Associates, which is the Division of Neurotology in the Department of Neurosurgery at Allegheny General Hospital. The goal of this rotation is to provide residents with an intensive short-term experience in all aspects of otology and neurotology. The resident will spend three and one-half days in the operating room and one and one-half days in the office and Hearing and Balance Center. During this time he/she will participate in operative otology and neurotology cases as well as outpatient management of patients with hearing, balance and skull base disorders. In addition, each resident is encouraged to participate in self-paced temporal bone drilling practice sessions in the temporal bone micro-dissection laboratory.

The resident is expected to participate in all the academic conferences of the Allegheny Neurosurgery Department including Tumor Conference, Morning and Evening ICU Rounds, Morbidity and Mortality Conference, Journal Club, and Preoperative Conference as well as our departmental weekly Otology lecture and multidisciplinary Head and Neck Tumor Board teleconferences. The resident is expected to complete at least one manuscript in conjunction with the neurotology faculty that is suitable for publication.