Our current large faculty complement of full-time Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgeons are dedicated to the academic development of our OTOHNS resident group of fifteen individuals. This allows excellent mentorship that is frequently on a one-to-one basis. It is our goal to give our residents a broad comprehensive experience in all areas of our specialty that will allow them to become independent clinicians and surgeons. During the achievement of that goal, it is our policy to allow OTOHNS residents significant, well-supervised latitude in the management of clinical problems, as well as operative cases. This is accomplished in a manner of graded responsibility as all clinical, teaching and research activities are closely mentored by the OTOHNS faculty with increasing responsibility placed upon the resident according to their level of training and capabilities.

Most faculty have appointments in at least two medical centers. This increases OTOHNS resident exposure to the core clinical faculty in different clinical settings. We feel this yields consistency and stability in the surgical training of our residents and this continuous interaction with each resident throughout their residency, allows the faculty to meaningfully evaluate each resident. All faculty participate in the OTOHNS curriculum as well as other scholarly activities, and all participate in the resident evaluative process.

Residents generally receive very rapid and direct oral feedback regarding their clinical management of patients, both on the ward and in the operating room. Residents are also formally evaluated by rotation faculty on all aspects of resident performance after each rotation. This written evaluation includes aspects from all portions of residency training, including professional demeanor, clinical acumen and judgment, surgical technical skills, administrative abilities as well as research and teaching accomplishments. These global assessments are based on the six ACGME clinical competencies. Semi-annual summaries are transcribed along with duty hour calculations, operative experience report summaries, in-training exam results, and Home study course results. These are reviewed in detail by the Program Director and Associate Program Director with each resident confidentially and constructive feedback is provided. This is also an opportunity for each resident to provide feedback on the resident training program. Semi-annual 360-degree evaluations are also obtained, including feedback from patients, nursing and administrative staff. Residents maintain a Competency Portfolio documenting their progress through the KUMC Competency Curriculum. Also, an exit interview of all chief residents is performed by the Chairman and/or Program Director at the end of training. An annual residency program evaluation, including Conference and Institution/Rotation evaluations are completed by both faculty and residents. All evaluations are discussed anonymously with the OTOHNS Residency Education Committee to continually improve and upgrade the Residency Program.

The resident performance on the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Home study course and the American Board of Otolaryngology in-training examination is used along with the above resident evaluations in our overall evaluation of individual residents. We believe that the annual in-training examination, while somewhat dependent on an individual's ability to take such multiple choice examinations, also indicates how successfully he or she has integrated material from the residency curriculum. We look for and expect to see continued improvement in performance as the residents progress in the program. We feel that performance on this test is somewhat predictive of ultimate resident performance on the American Board of Otolaryngology Certification examination.

All residents in our program complete a confidential evaluation of our full-time teaching faculty on an annual basis. This evaluation becomes a permanent record in the faculty's file and is considered important evidence of the faculty member's teaching and mentoring ability. This is also an opportunity for residents to provide confidential feedback on all aspects of their training program. This is supplemented by an annual Departmental Winter Competency Conference. This is usually held in the winter at a snow skiing resort, and during this extended weekend Conference, frequently attended by alumni as well, important faculty-resident group discussions are held in addition to educational conferences. Constructive criticism and feedback of all aspects of the residency program is discussed openly and freely at all levels from intern to Department Chairman. Besides being a lot of fun, many improvements in our residency-training program occur each year as a result of these interactions.

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