The fellow will participate fully in all activities of the Rhinology/Olfaction and Skull Base Surgery Section of the Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Surgery. This will include seeing patients in clinic alongside the rhinology faculty and performing rhinologic surgery with faculty surgeons.

Didactic Curriculum

In addition to the clinical experience, the curriculum will include a comprehensive, structured reading program that focuses on key areas of rhinology. This includes anatomy, embryology, surgical techniques, olfaction, medical ethics and practice management. The fellow will be expected to read the articles in detail and discuss them in weekly conferences with the Rhinology Faculty. These articles will provide a "spring board" to in-depth discussions on rhinologic diagnosis and treatment. The structured reading program and conference discussions will help the fellow develop critical thinking skills to challenge "dogma" and refine the ability to customize diagnosis and treatment for individual patients with unique clinical presentations and surgical challenges. Developing and refining "critical thinking skills" and "problem solving skills" is intended to prepare the fellow for independent practice at a tertiary care medical center where unusual cases are encountered that require innovative solutions.

Supervisory and Patient Care Responsibilities

The fellows will personally be mentored and supervised in the operating room and clinics by UF rhinology faculty to assure patient safety. The degree of faculty supervision is dependent on the fellow’s surgical experience and surgical skills.

Patient care responsibilities will include on-call coverage for the Division of Otolaryngology on a rotating basis with the Otolaryngology faculty. These responsibilities will also include inpatient, ICU and emergency room consultation, and urgent clinic patients.

Surgical Case Experience and Diversity of Cases

The program will provide exposure to a diverse spectrum of primary and revision rhinologic surgical cases. Procedures will include endoscopic sinus surgery, open frontal sinus surgery, septoplasty, nasal valveplasty, turbinoplasty, surgical resection of benign and malignant sinonasal and skull base neoplasms, repair of skull base defects with local/regional flaps or grafts, participation in endoscopic removal of pituitary neoplasms, CSF leak repair, encephalocele treatment, and management of rhino-orbital pathology.

Goals and Objectives

• To further develop the fellow’s endoscopic sinonasal surgical skills, required for performing surgical procedures in the nose, paranasal sinuses, orbit, and skull base
• To develop robust expertise in the evaluation and treatment of disorders of the sense of smell
• To develop the fellow’s expertise in the diagnosis and management of inflammatory, infectious and neoplastic conditions of the nose and paranasal sinuses
• To grow or refine the academic tools needed for medical research as well as life-long discover and learning

Research

Robust research interest and activities is expected of the fellow. Research projects will be identified at the beginning of the fellowship. A variety of anatomic, clinical, and basic science research projects are available under faculty supervision. Protocol development will be expected to advance projects and to provide a learning experience on the requirements and standard practices required for human subject medical research. All fellows are required to take appropriate IRB mandated online courses including CITI, in order to participate in human research projects. Completion of several research projects, suitable for publication in peer-reviewed journals is expected.