NCC Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery

The NCC Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (more commonly referred to as ENT – Ear, Nose, and Throat) is a fully Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited 5 year program leading to board eligibility in Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. Matriculates within the program will receive a broad exposure to general Otolaryngology as well as to multiple subspecialties within Otolaryngology to include Pediatric Otolaryngology, Neuro-Otology (ear and skull base surgery), Facial Plastic Surgery, Rhinology (Sinus and skull base surgery), and Head and Neck Cancer Surgery.

Medical Student Clerkships

The program enthusiastically supports fourth-year medical students who wish to consider Otolaryngology as a specialty choice. Students in applying for residency positions should contact the Program Director for interview and application information. At this time, the program can only consider applicants who are on active duty in the U.S. Military. The program also is happy to host rotations for medical students interested in other specialties who wish to further their knowledge and experience in Otolaryngology. Due to current U.S. military security requirements, only students who are U.S. citizens can be hosted for rotations.

Internship

The ACGME has mandated very specific requirements (see ACGME.org) for the first post-graduate year in Otolaryngology training. Residents must have completed these specific requirements to be considered for progression to the Otolaryngology PGY-2 year. Physicians who have completed transitional year internship programs, general surgery internship programs, or other internship programs will need to repeat all or portions of their internship to be eligible for further Otolaryngology residency training.

Residency

The NCC Otolaryngology Residency program trains 2-3 residents per year group from the Army or Air Force. The host institution is Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in Bethesda, MD. WRNMMC boasts a state of the art otolaryngology clinic with the latest endoscopic equipment; dedicated surgical, pediatric, neonatal, medical and cardiac intensive care units; and operating rooms with state of the art equipment. The audiology and speech pathology divisions, co-located with the otolaryngology clinic, contain multiple testing booths, complete vestibular evaluation capabilities, and an active research arm including two PhD research audiologists. In addition, WRNMMC is further benefitted by its close location to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Library of Medicine. Other otolaryngology residency rotation sites beyond WRNMMC include Fort Belvoir Community Hospital (Fort Belvoir, VA), Malcolm Grow Medical Clinics and Surgery Center (Joint Base Andrews, MD), Children’s National Medical Center (Washington, DC), The University of Maryland (Baltimore, MD), INOVA Fairfax Hospital (Fairfax, VA), Suburban/Johns Hopkins (Bethesda, MD), Kaiser Northern Virginia (Tysons Corner, VA) and MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX). Recent graduates of the program have compiled over 2,800 cases as primary surgeon, and our residency ranks in the top 70% of key indicator procedures nationally. Attending staff within the program have fellowship training to include Head and Neck Surgery, Neuro-Otology, Facial Plastics, Rhinoloy, Pediatric Otolaryngology, and Laryngology.

In addition to clinical rotations, residents also participate in rigorous research training, the otolaryngology allergy course, a micro-vascular reconstruction course, semi-annual temporal bone and endoscopic ear surgery dissection courses, cadaver-based head and neck anatomy dissection courses, rhinology and anterior skull base dissection courses, an otolaryngology boot camp course at Johns Hopkins, and an audiology and speech therapy course. Academic achievement is fostered for all residents through faculty mentorship in ongoing research projects. Each resident is expected to complete a research project during their residency, and most residents complete multiple projects. The NCC Residency Program takes great pride in the fact that many of the program’s graduates have gone on to complete some of the most prestigious otolaryngology subspecialty fellowships in America, to include: Harvard University, Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, University of Pittsburg, UCLA, and many others.

Please feel free to contact the Program Director with any questions about the program or for requests for interviews or rotations.