Curriculum

Our residents gain a comprehensive education in otolaryngology in our five-year program. Trainees rotate in head and neck and reconstructive surgery, facial plastic and maxillofacial surgery, nasal and endoscopic sinus surgery, otology and skull base surgery, laryngology, pediatric otolaryngology, allergy and sleep medicine. Residents also participate in simulation courses both locally and at visiting sites in microvascular surgery and all of the subspecialties.

Residents participate in weekly grand rounds and case presentations, monthly morbidity & mortality conferences, journal clubs and annual mock oral board exams. We have a number of visiting professors that travel to our institution to present grand round lectures, resident lectures, Tidewater Otolaryngology Society lectures and for the annual temporal bone course.

We have adopted the Otolaryngology Core Curriculum offered through the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery as our main educational resource. Further information about this curriculum can be found at OCC | Otolaryngology Core Curriculum Portal (entnet.org). Our department faculty and residents work together to deliver lectures related to the core curriculum topics.

Our residents also participate in annual medical mission trips to locations in Africa and Honduras. These trips include care in multiple subspecialties including cleft/craniofacial, otologic surgery, endocrine surgery and head and neck oncology as well as general otolaryngology care.

Subspecialties

We offer a large breadth of subspecialty otolaryngology care. We currently have multiple faculty with subspecialty certification in all areas of otolaryngology.

Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

• Eric Dobratz, MD
• William Dougherty, MD
• Rhorie Kerr, MD

Rhinology

• Joseph Han, MD
• Kent Lam, MD

Otology/Neurotology

• Barry Strasnick, MD
• Stephanie Moody Antonio, MD

Pediatric Otolaryngology

• Craig Derkay, MD
• David Darrow, MD, DDS
• Cristina Baldassari, MD
• Thomas Gallagher, DO
• Jordyn Lucas, MD
• Erin Hamersley, DO

Head & Neck Oncology

• Matthew Bak, MD
• Jonathan Mark, MD
• Patrick Morgan, MD

Laryngology

• John Sinacori, MD
• Benjamin Rubinstein, MD

Facial Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery

• Facial reconstruction
• Facial rejuvenation
• Pediatric deformities
• Rhinoplasty
• Facial nerve rehabilitation
• Facial Trauma

Head & Neck Cancer and Microvascular and Reconstructive Surgery
Laryngology
Otology/Neurotology
Pediatric Otolaryngology
Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery

Educational Activities

Resident and Faculty-taught Lecture Series

Residents and faculty present on a range of otolaryngology topics during our lecture series. We have adopted the Otolaryngology Core Curriculum (OCC) that is offered through the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery as our main educational resource. We are following the curriculum topic schedule as designated by the OCC and give lecture presentations at 7 a.m. on 3rd and 4th Tuesday mornings of every month with the topic that corresponds to the previous week's topic in the curriculum. Both residents and faculty lead the lectures depending on the assignment and lectures are designed to be engaging and interactive. The basic information for the topic is already covered in the online curriculum which allows for more discussion-based lecture sessions. Further information about this curriculum can be found at OCC | Otolaryngology Core Curriculum Portal (entnet.org).

Grand Rounds and Morbidity & Mortality Conferences

Trainees and faculty participate in Grand Rounds on the 1st and 5th Tuesdays of the month, where presenters lecture on Otolaryngology and multidisciplinary topics. The majority of Grand Rounds are performed by visiting professors in otolaryngology and ancillary providers who work closely with our department. Our chief residents give a grand rounds presentation as well. This is a well attended and engaging conference that is meant to explore cutting edge topics in otolaryngology.

Morbidity & Mortality Conferences are held monthly on the 2nd Tuesdays of the month at 7am.

Case Conferences

Every Tuesday from 8-9 AM case conferences are given for the various subspecialties. These engaging sessions are designed to have the faculty from each respective subspecialty review cases, recent journals and/or diagnostic studies with the residents. These sessions are very interactive as faculty and residents review and discuss information related to the weeks assigned topic. Each subspecialty is assigned a week of the month.

Rhinology - 1st Tuesday
Otology - 2nd Tuesday
Pediatric ENT - 3rd Tuesday
Facial Plastics - 4th Tuesday
Laryngology - 5th Tuesday
Head and Neck - Weekly head and neck tumor conference on Thursday mornings which involves discussion of patient cases to include patient information/presentation, radiology, pathology and consult visit information.

Tidewater Otolaryngology Society Visiting Professor Series

The Visiting Professor Series of the Tidewater Otolaryngology Society (TOS) will include a series of evenings featuring social hours, dinners and presentations from leaders in our field. Dates for the 2024-2025 year are:

Thursday, January 23, 2025
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Thursday, April 24, 2025