Otolaryngology interns (PGY-1) rotate with general surgery, plastic surgery, pediatric surgery, anesthesiology, surgical intensive care, and neurosurgery over six months. During this time, the PGY-1 residents will assess, plan and initiate treatment of adult and pediatric patients with surgical and/or medical problems. They will be expected to differentiate between emergent and non-emergent situations, and care for patients of all ages with surgical and medical emergencies, multiple organ system trauma, soft tissue wounds, nervous system injuries and diseases, and peripheral vascular and thoracic injuries. Residents will also care for critically ill surgical and medical patients in the ICU and emergency room setting, and participate in the pre-, intra-, and post-operative care of surgical patients. In addition, residents will assist in surgical anesthesia, including evaluation of anesthetic risks and management of intra-operative anesthetic complications. Activities will foster proficiency in the peri-operative care of surgical patients, inter-disciplinary care coordination, and airway management skills. Six months of internship are spent on otolaryngology - head & neck surgery under the supervision of the otolaryngology faculty, where residents will cultivate their otolaryngology knowledge base.

Otolaryngology residents graduate with a strong head and neck surgery experience. We are the only group performing high-volume head and neck surgery within a catchment area that includes not only Southern Nevada, but also Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, and California. Residents will see and treat head and neck cancers of a variety of pathologies, subsites, and treatment plans, including robotic and laser surgery. They will also acquire the skills to examine, diagnose, and take head and neck cancer patients through multi-disciplinary treatment plans.

Residents are expected to graduate with the skill set necessary to perform extirpative open neck surgery, neck dissection, salivary gland surgery, surgical treatment of mucosal and cutaneous head and neck cancers, and thyroid and parathyroid surgery. A multi-disciplinary tumor board meets twice a month to discuss challenging patient cases.

The otology-neurotology experience will provide the residents with the gamut of pathologies ranging from chronic ear disease, hearing loss, vestibular disorders, facial nerve disorders, temporal bone, and lateral skull base tumors. Residents will acquire outpatient skills in the diagnosis and treatment of otologic/neurologic disorders, interpretation of audiologic and vestibular testing (audiograms, tympanograms, ABRs, ECOGs, VNGs, and VEMPs), office myringotomy and tube placement, and intratympanic drug therapy. A familiarity with pediatric hearing loss, implantable hearing device candidacy and programming, craniofacial disorders and their impact on hearing and balance, vestibular rehabilitation will be achieved by the residents, as well. When taking UMC calls, they will encounter and treat otologic emergencies, ranging from sudden hearing loss, dizziness, facial paralysis, and temporal bone fractures.

Attendance in the annual temporal bone dissection course is mandatory, where the resident will participate in a one-on-one instruction with attending otology staff. Access to independent temporal bone dissection outside the annual course is available.

Expectations of the graduating residents include proficiency in all aspects of chronic ear surgery: myringoplasty, tympanoplasty, mastoidectomy, ossicular chain reconstruction, and middle ear endoscopic surgery.

This is a comprehensive experience covering all aspects of pediatric otolaryngology including endoscopic and open airway procedures, cleft palate and velopharyngeal insufficiency, advanced sleep surgery, sinus disease, ear and hearing disorders, as well as head and neck and endocrine surgery. There is only one pediatric otolaryngologist in all southern Nevada, so the catchment area is broad and the patient population diverse. We are supported by a strong pediatric intensive care unit team and a level 3 neonatal intensive care unit. Residents spend time on this rotation during their second and fourth years.

In addition, several other providers perform common procedures on children, such as myringotomy tubes and adenotonsillectomies, so residents will still have the opportunity to learn different methods and techniques for these surgeries.

Residents develop a strong foundation in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery with multiple attending faculty specializing in facial plastic surgery and head and neck microvascular reconstruction. Throughout the training program, residents have a strong hands-on experience in functional and cosmetic rhinoplasty. They also gain an ample, but not overwhelming experience, in the management of soft tissue and bony facial trauma. In the resident clinic, they regularly perform minor cosmetic procedures including injectable neurotoxins and fillers.

Our trainees are also well-versed in complex head and neck reconstruction after tumor extirpation, osteoradionecrosis, and complex trauma and wound complications. They are expected to graduate with the ability to assess and perform a reconstructive plan using local tissue rearrangements and workhorse locoregional flaps – including pectoralis flaps, supraclavicular island artery, submental flaps, and temporalis flaps.

For the size of the residency, the program has a relatively high microvascular volume, allowing residents to perform and assist in microsurgery during their residency. Other areas of facial plastic surgery that residents gain exposure to include facial paralysis, facial rejuvenation including blepharoplasty and rhytidectomy, congenital auricular anomalies, oculoplastic surgery, and scar revision.

Otolaryngology residents acquire the skills for evaluating disorders of the voice, airway, and swallowing. They get experience evaluating, treating, and counseling laryngology patients in our specialty clinic and rotating with the sole fellowship-trained laryngologist in Las Vegas. Residents also rotate in the chairman’s spasmodic dysphonia Botox clinic. Las Vegas’ reputation as an entertainment destination provides residents with experience in treating voice professionals. In the operating theater, residents gain the skills to surgically diagnose and treat patients with laryngeal, tracheal, and esophageal pathology. They also have opportunities to learn and perform endoscopic microphonosurgery, open airway surgery, subglottic stenosis treatment and airway reconstruction, injection vocal cord medialization, and thyroplasty.

Otolaryngology residents have ample opportunity to hone skills in evaluating and treating patients with rhinologic disorders. They will see an array of patients from those that are medically and surgically managed, to those requiring multidisciplinary teams of pulmonologist and allergists. Residents will graduate with the skills necessary to perform simple and advanced endoscopic sinus surgery. In addition to endoscopic sinus surgeries, the department also performs endoscopic CSF leak repair and regularly provide endoscopic and microscopic approaches to the pituitary for neurosurgery.

The mission of the residency program is to educate our residents to become well-rounded, exemplary otolaryngologists with sound clinical judgment and a wide array of surgical abilities. Our trainees graduate residency ready to enter general otolaryngology practice. Between the plethora of educational opportunities, the depth of our subspecialty training, and our training model, residents graduate with the skills necessary to treat a wide array of general otolaryngology patients – medically and surgically.

Allen Young, MD

Otology Fellowship at Silverstein Institute

Medical School: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Undergraduate College: University of Alabama at Birmingham
Undergraduate Degree: B.S. Neuroscience

Nathaniel Reeve, MD

Rhinology Fellowship at University of Washington

Medical School: University of Alabama School of Medicine
Undergraduate College: Auburn University
Undergraduate Degree: B.S. Microbial, Cellular, and Molecular Biology

Jacob Kahane, MD

Neurotology Fellowship at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine

Medical School: Albany Medical College
Undergraduate College: Dartmouth College
Undergraduate Degree: Undergraduate Degree: B.S. Biochemistry

Harry Ching, MD

Facial Plastic Surgery Fellowship at the University of California, Irvine

Medical School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Undergraduate College: University of California, Berkeley
Undergraduate Degree: Undergraduate Degree: B.S. Bioengineering

David Kim, MD

Head and Neck Surgery Fellowship at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR

Medical School: Eastern Virginia Medical School of the Medical College of Hampton Roads
Undergraduate College: University of California - San Diego
Undergraduate Degree: B.S. Molecular Biology