Teaching Conference Schedule

The teaching conference schedule is as follows:

The head and neck fellow has the following teaching responsibilities:

• Participates in AM daily clinical rounds with the faculty, residents and rotation medical students. Responsible for inpatient management decisions and resident teaching on the head and neck service.
• Acts as teaching faculty for head and neck surgical cases, with resident supervision, under the supervision/discretion of the head and neck faculty.
• Resident teaching for clinical consultations for the head and neck service.
• Participates in the annual maxillofacial reconstruction/plating course, which includes hands on application of hardware and cadaver dissections.
• Participates in 10-week head and neck anatomy course for the residents, which includes lectures, and surgically focused anatomical cadaver dissections.
• Participates in monthly microvascular lab, which includes resident teaching on basic microvascular, microneural suturing techniques.
• Annual Grand Rounds presentation on topics related to head and neck oncology given to the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
• Annual Grand Rounds presentation on the diagnosis and management of oral cavity malignancy to the Division of Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery and Dental Service.
• Primary supervising faculty for two journal clubs within the departmental journal club series, reviewing current literature related to head and neck oncology.
• Assistant during head and neck cadaver dissections during undergraduate Gross Anatomy course for Icahn School of Medicine.

Service Rotations

The service rotations are as follows:

One month Medical Oncology clinical experience (2 clinics per week)

Focus: Chemotherapy planning/administration for head and neck cancer. (Shadow Marshall Posner, MD, in the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Center)

Two weeks Radiation Oncology rotation (2-3 sessions per week)

Focus: Treatment planning/execution for head and neck malignancy IMRT planning, stereotactic planning, etc. (Shadow Nikita Gupta, MD, at the Head and Neck Institute.)

Two weeks Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery/Dental rotation

Focus: Evaluation/Management HN cancer patients prior to adjuvant therapy Clinical experience in osseointegrated dental implant reconstruction. (Shadow Greg Chotkowski, DMD, in OMFS clinic/OR)

One week head and neck radiology

Focus: Interpretation of head and neck radiological studies. Panoramic/Cone Beam, CT, MRI, PET/CT, angiography (Shadow Peter Som, MD, during radiology interpretation/conferences related to head and neck)

One week head and neck pathology

Focus: Preparation/Interpretation of HE/frozen specimens related to head and neck; will also shadow cytopathologist for US/FNA training/interpretation.

Service Interaction

The Head and Neck Fellow and Head and Neck Service interacts with several surgical specialties using a team approach for appropriate cases:

• Neurosurgery/Rhinology/Skullbase: Surgical management of skull base malignancies is performed in conjunction with neurosurgical consultation, and all cases are performed with a combined team approach with neurosurgical/head and neck surgery/rhinology and sinus services performing respective aspects of the procedure.
• General Surgery/Thoracic: Team approach in cases requiring gastric pull-up, omental free tissue transfer, jejunal free tissue transfer, and other issues such as complex repair of extensive abdominal defects after flap harvest, if required. This team also manages advanced esophageal malignancies. In addition, thoracic approaches for metastectomy, when indicated are performed by the Thoracic Service.
• Vascular Surgery: Consulted in all cases of carotid involvement including pre-operative assessment of perfusion, treatment planning, and in cases of intraoperative vascular involvement/injury.
• Occuloplastic Surgery/Facial Plastic Reconstructive Surgery: Team approach for complex reconstruction of Mohs defects/malignancies involving aesthetic facial structures.
• Plastic/Reconstructive Surgery: Available on a consultation basis for reconstructive/wound healing issues.
• Dermatology/Mohs Surgery: Available on a consultation basis for appropriate cutaneous malignancies.
• Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery: In addition to being part of the Head and Neck Service, available for reconstructive consultation.

Research

A variety of clinical and basic research projects are available. You may select the area of interest for research. The fellow is expected to prepare a minimum of two research projects for publication per annum. In addition, you must participate in other departmental research activities, such as tissue procurement/banking, research consent procedures, and IRB/research meetings. You are encouraged to present research projects at nationally recognized meetings. (Financial resources are provided.)