House Staff Policies and Orientation Manual


RESIDENT ROTATIONS YEAR BY YEAR (2 or 3 Residents per year depending on cycle):

 

PGY-1
It is expected that the PGY-1 year will be spent in the Emory General Surgery program at Emory University Hospital, Grady Memorial Hospital, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (Egleston Children's Hospital), Emory Crawford Long Hospital, the Atlanta VA Medical Center and other affiliated hospitals in Atlanta. The goals of the PGY-1 year are:

1. Learn care of pre-and post-operative patients.
2. Master fundamental surgical techniques.
3. Develop interpersonal skills to deal with patients, staff and colleagues.

 

PGY-2 (Oto 1):
During the first year of training in Otolaryngology, time is split between Grady Memorial Hospital, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Egleston Children’s Hospital) and the Emory Clinic. The goals of the first year of Otolaryngology training are to:

1. Become skilled in physical diagnosis of OHNS patients, including all of the specialized techniques used in the specialty.
2. To assume increasing responsibility for the outpatient management of patients under a carefully supervised setting.
3. To develop familiarity with the surgical tools and techniques used within the specialty.

PGY-3 (Oto 2):
The PGY-3 residents spend alternating blocks at the Atlanta VA, Emory Hospital and Crawford W. Long Hospital. These rotations allow development of more sophisticated surgical and diagnostic skills. Crawford W. Long Hospital is the home of the Emory Voice Center dedicated to the care of the professional voice and swallowing problems. This rotation also includes Facial Plastic experience at the Emory Facial Center in central Buckhead. The goals of the PGY-3 year are to:
1. Develop independence in evaluation and treatment of outpatients.
2. Develop skills in increasingly complex surgical procedures.

 

PGY-4 (Oto 3):
The PGY-4 rotation includes Grady Memorial Hospital as Chief of Service and the research block. The goals of the PGY-4 year are:
1. To become a skilled independent clinician and develop administrative skills for running the inpatient and outpatient services.
2. To become more facile with complex surgical procedures.
3. To design and perform a research project in close collaboration with a research mentor.

 

PGY-5 (Oto 4):
In the final year of this training program in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, the PGY-5 resident is the Chief of Service at Emory Hospital and the Atlanta VA Hospital. The goals of the PGY-5 year are to:
1. Perform the most complex and sophisticated surgical procedures.
2. Develop administrative skills necessary in managing a busy and diverse service.

 

Additional Information about the Emory Residency Program:

Hospitals:
Consistent with the Department’s mission to offer comprehensive exposure to a diverse patient population the resident rotations cover five Atlanta hospitals (Grady Memorial, Emory University, Egleston Children’s, Crawford W. Long Hospital and the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center). In addition to these sites the residency also provides rotations through the Department’s central faculty clinic in addition to both the Facial Aesthetics and Voice Centers.

Case volumes:
Given the scope and breadth of the Emory residency our case experience logs are consistently strong, and appropriately the size of our residency has been expanded to better capture these educational opportunities without diminishing the quality of exposure, experience and education our residents enjoy.

Call Responsibilities:
With the close proximity of Emory’s hospitals we are able to offer our residents the ability to take no in-house call for the duration of the program. We group on-call responsibilities by campus (Emory/ Egleston vs. VA/ Grady) which provides for convenience of proximity in the case of the Emory/ Egleston campus and volume balance in the case of Grady/ VA.

Work Hours:
In keeping with the new ACGME guidelines limiting resident work hours, the Department follows THE 80 HOUR RULE: whereby Otolaryngology residents are NOT allowed to work greater than 80 hours averaged over a four week period. If a junior resident reaches his or her 80-hour limit that resident is to defer all calls to his or her senior (back-up) resident; THE 1 IN 7 RULE: whereby Otolaryngology residents MUST have 1 full day (24 hours) off in every 7-day period averaged over the course of 1 calendar month; and THE 24 + 6 RULE: whereby Otolaryngology residents are not allowed to work greater than 24 hours continually in a clinical/ surgical capacity. After 24 hours residents are allowed to complete an additional 6 hours in a “continuity of care” capacity.

Performance evaluations:
Residents receive comprehensive evaluations by our faculty on a bi-annual basis and pop surgical procedural evaluations quarterly. We also employ annual 360º evaluations that allow clinical and surgical nurses the opportunity to evaluate your interactions with support staff as we believe that disposition, integrity, and principled behavior are important facets to your professional training and development.

Program / Faculty evaluations:
In our effort to continually improve the residency training program we follow an annual program and faculty evaluation process by all residents. This anonymous feedback is carefully considered at each faculty member’s annual performance review.

Conferences:
There are several venues for didactic teaching during the residency. All residents are required to attend each of these conferences.
Grand Rounds meets Thursday mornings and consists of lectures by residents, faculty and outside speakers. Scheduled sessions include Morbidity and Mortality, audiology and pathology. This conference is GME approved for physicians.
Basic Science Conferences are held each Tuesday and Thursday evening. Basic science topics in pediatric otolaryngology, otology, rhinology, laryngology, head and neck, facial plastics, neuroscience and audiology are presented and discussed over a two year rotating curriculum.
The Temporal Bone Surgical Anatomy Laboratory is held as a part of the Basic Science conferences and runs for several  weeks in the spring. We are very fortunate to have Dr. Malcolm Graham as the Director of the Temporal Bone Surgical Anatomy Laboratory and under his guidance each resident has become a superb temporal bone surgeon. Each resident has a drilling station with state of the art microscopes, drills and instruments. The session starts with a short lecture on the topic of the day and is followed by proctored drilling for all residents. After the temporal bone sessions are finished, there are additional dissections of the orbit and larynx.
Journal Club is held the first Tuesday evening of each month at Crawford Long Hospital. Articles are pre-assigned and are discussed in detail over a warm meal.
The Georgia Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery holds five monthly meetings each year at local restaurants and invites nationally recognized speakers. Residents are expected to attend, and the meal is included. The last meeting of each year is an annual Resident Research Day held in conjunction with the Medical College of Georgia residency.
Additional Department-sponsored courses are held each year including both Rhinology and Facial Plastics and are open to resident participation.
The Department sponsors each resident’s annual participation in the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery’s Home Study Course in preparation for the mandatory American Board of Otolaryngology’s In-Service Training exam each spring.

MEMBERSHIPS:
The Department sponsors resident memberships to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the Triological Society, the Georgia Society of Otolaryngology and the Metro Atlanta Otolaryngology Association.

JOURNALS AND PUBLICATIONS:
Department-sponsored resident membership in the societies above also includes receipt of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, The Laryngoscope and Archives of Otolaryngology.

TRAVEL & MEETINGS:
The Department sponsors travel to national meetings for any presenting residents, in addition to sponsoring junior resident travel during the PGY-4 year.