PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Overview: Cleveland Clinic is rated among the top two hospitals in the United States.  The focus of all practices at the Cleveland Clinic is on providing world class care to all patients.  The Clinic is one of the biggest employers of the state with over 50,000 employees and 3,000 staff physicians in the health system.  The main hospital has a capacity of over 1400 beds, of which almost 45% are intensive/critical care beds, making it the largest tertiary critical care center in the country.  According to the US News and World report, the Cleveland Clinic is the number one hospital in the state of Ohio, and 14 specialties are rated among the top ten in their field in the United States.

The Taussig Cancer Center at the Cleveland Clinic is a renowned cancer center, which participates in numerous multi-institutional clinical trials from across the country and is at the forefront of ground breaking cancer research and treatment protocols.  It is part of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, a NCI-designated cancer center.

The Head and Neck Institute has been consistently rated in the top fifteen otolaryngology programs in the country for the past several years.  The Institute includes the disciplines of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Dentistry, Oromaxillofacial Surgery, Audiology and Speech and Communicative disorders, comprising 60 staff physicians.  The HNI sponsors an ACGME-approved otolaryngology residency training program that graduates three to four trainees annually.

Objectives: The fellowship will provide an intensive year-long training program for those in pursuit of a career in academic head and neck surgery.  It will provide training in both the multidisciplinary non-surgical treatment of head and neck cancer patients as well as the advanced surgical management of head and neck tumors and cancers.  This is designed to go beyond the more basic procedures taught in otolaryngology residency.

Strengths: During the fellowship, the fellow works closely with each HNI staff in patient care and as a result has extensive exposure to all facets of head and neck surgical oncology.  This includes transoral robotic / laser microsurgery, endocrine surgery, skull base approaches and combined approaches to the thoracic inlet.  Furthermore, the fellow will gain experience and establish competence in advanced head and neck reconstruction, including microvascular reconstruction and laryngotracheal reconstruction.

Eligibility: A candidate must be Board Certified or Board Eligible in Otolaryngology.  An Ohio state medical license is required before the start of the fellowship.  All interested US and Canadian fellowship applicants are required to be registered with the Match Program of the Advanced Training Council for Approval of Training in Head and Neck Oncology Surgery (sponsored by The American Head and Neck Society).  Those applicants who are not eligible for the Match Program are required to undergo the same application process by filling out the AHNS application with references and directly sending them to the Head and Neck Institute (c/o Dr. Lamarre).  All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin or handicap.

Fellows’ Duties/Responsibilities: In addition to the outpatient workup and surgical management of the head and neck cancer patient, the fellow will gain gradual experience in the running of a multidisciplinary head and neck tumor board throughout the year, such that s/he will be expected to organize it with minimal oversight by the year’s end.  The fellow will complete didactic and experiential training in the fundamentals of clinical research design and methodology.

Research Opportunities:  The fellowship is primarily clinical in nature and there is not an additional expectation for laboratory research.  However, the fellow will be expected to develop and complete at least one clinical and basic science research project that will likely result in a scientific presentation and/or publication.  This will be developed with the HNI staff and research mentor, and the project will be due by the end of the fellowship year.

Supervision, Teaching & Call:  The head and neck fellow will be expected to teach the Otolaryngology residents, specifically in the area of head and neck oncology and reconstruction.   This will be done through occasional lectures, clinical oversight in the clinics and hospital wards and operative instruction in the operating room.  The fellow will aid in resident education by being the teaching surgeon in more routine head and neck cases and thereby allow the expansion of the attending practices, while allowing the fellow to gain experience in the teaching which s/he will be expected to do in academic practice.  The fellow will therefore complement the residency education in head and neck surgery rather than compete with it.

The fellow will be hired as a Cleveland Clinic physician, with standard otolaryngology privileges since s/he will be either certified by or eligible for ABOto certification.  However, the fellow will not be given privileges for procedures which are a part of the fellowship training, which include advanced head and neck oncologic surgery, skull base surgery and microvascular surgery.  They will cover departmental call, as do other staff members and other HNI fellows, but will have backup from the fellowship’s faculty.

PAST FELLOWS
Samer Al-Khudari, MD – Assistant Professor, Rush University, Chicago, IL
Brandon Prendes, MD – Staff, Head and Neck Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
Tabitha Galloway, MD – Assistant Professor, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Ryan Winters, MD – Surgeon, Ochsner Health System
Michael Roskies, MD – Fellow, University of Toronto
Patrick Tassone, MD—Current Head and Neck Fellow