4th Year Elective

The Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery Department works in conjunction with the Office of Student Affairs in the School of Medicine.

The 4 week rotation at the University of Virginia will consist of one week exposure to each of the four services.  One week will be on the Head and Neck service, one week will be on the Rhinology/Otology service, one week will be on the Facial Plastics/Laryngology service and one week will be on the Pediatric Otolaryngology service.  A schedule will be given to you based on the selective student rotation.

The rotation will provide you with a broad exposure to both the clinical and surgical aspects of the specialty. You will see patients in the clinic with the attending staff and residents, and gain experience in performing complete head and neck examinations, otoscopic examinations of the ears, and direct or indirect examinations of the nose, nasopharynx, oral cavity hypopharynx, larynx, and neck. Exposure to outpatients is also emphasized, so you will gain a facility in the diagnosis and management of the more commonly presenting problems in otolaryngology. You will also have the opportunity to observe surgical cases in the operating rooms, as well as minor procedures in the outpatient surgery setting and in the clinic. You will be expected to take part in in-patient rounds and, under direct faculty and resident supervision, share in the responsibility of caring for hospitalized patients. Students are expected to have a patient load comparable to the PGY 1 resident on the service.

At the end of the rotation you will be expected to give in-depth presentation on a topic in the field of Otolaryngology that you encountered during your four week rotation to the faculty and residents during our Wednesday conference.  The presentation should be 15 minutes long in a power point format.