Supervision and teaching are provided to a degree that is commensurate with each resident's level of ability. Ample clinical material is available, ensuring graded responsibility. Residents gain experience in clinical otolaryngology at Children's Memorial, Cook County, Evanston, and Northwestern Memorial Hospitals and VA Chicago Health Care System Lakeside Division. A basic science unit is placed strategically at the beginning of the program. This didactic and laboratory experience emphasizes head and neck anatomy and physiology, audiology, histopathology, temporal bone dissection, and immunology.
Priority is given to the education medical students receive within the department.
They may elect to spend from one half-day a week to three months full time on the service. Residents participate actively in a coordinated program designed to furnish them with a basic core of knowledge and understanding of the discipline. Outpatient clinics, ward rounds, operating room exposure, and special seminars are the foundations for their learning. The surgical year is spent at the McGaw Medical Center. The specific rotations vary depending on each resident's background and medical school clerkships.