Frequently Asked Questions: Residency Candidates

1. Where do rotations take place?
2. What is the structure of the residency?
3. What types of cases are available?
4. How much involvement in patient care do residents have?
5. Are there opportunities for attending scientific meetings?
6. Are laboratory research opportunities available?
7. What educational resources are available?
8. What conferences are held?
9. How do residents perform on Boards and in service exams?
10. What is the vacation schedule for residents?
11. What is the pay scale?
12. What health care benefits are available?
13. What arrangements are available for meals on-call?
14. What is the history of the Department?
15. What sort of housing is available?
16. What other provisions are made by the hospital?
17. What leisure activities are available in Cleveland?
18. How can I learn more about the Department?
    
    
    

Where do rotations take place?

Rotations are scheduled throughout the residency at the sponsoring institution, University Hospitals of Cleveland (UH), Case Medical Center and Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital (RB&C). Other rotations are scheduled through our affiliated hospitals: The Department of Veteran's Affairs Hospital (VA) and MetroHealth Medical Center. 

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What is the structure of the residency?

Residents complete one year of surgical rotations followed by four years of dedicated OTO-HNS. Residents spend time during their PGY-2 year at UH, RB&C, and MetroHealth. The PGY-3 year is spent at UH, the VA, and doing research. The PGY-4 year is spent at UH on the Adult service and on the Otology Service, and as "Peds Chief" at RB&C. The PGY-5 (Chief) year is spent at UH, the VA and Metro.

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What types of cases are available?

Our residents are exposed to a wide variety of cases including general ENT, endoscopic and traditional paranasal sinus surgery, pediatric otolaryngology, head and neck cancer, otology, neurotology, cosmetic and reconstructive facial plastic surgery, microvascular surgery, and maxillofacial trauma.

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How much involvement in patient care do residents experience?

Residents take an active role with both medical and surgical management of both private and clinic patients. Except for those patients seen at satellite offices by the attending physicians and a very limited number of cases done at a satellite surgical center, residents participate in the care of all patients seen by the full-time faculty.

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Are there opportunities for attending scientific meetings?

The Department provides funds for each resident to attend the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery meeting in the PGY-3 and PGY-5 years. This meeting, held in the fall of each year, is a wonderful educational opportunity that we feel is uniquely suited as a vehicle for broadening the knowledge base while allowing networking among our residents. Additionally, residents who author papers which are accepted at this or other local or national meetings are permitted to attend these as well, with travel, registration, and accommodation expenses paid for by the department.

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Are laboratory research opportunities available?

All residents are expected to conceive of or become involved in a basic or clinical science research project during their residency, either working with a full-time faculty member from our department, or, in some cases with one of many excellent researchers at Case Western Reserve University. Four months of protected time are provided during the PGY-3 year during which no other clinical responsibilities, other than night call, are assigned to the resident for work on the project. Structured research planning begins in the PGY-2 year.

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What educational resources are available?

In addition to having a well stocked and very complete departmental library housed at University Hospitals, residents can access library materials at MetroHealth, the VA, and the "Core Library" of UH. The Allen Memorial Library, the Health Sciences library, and the new Kelvin Smith library are University/Medical School libraries that are available as well. Journal articles not found at these libraries (which occurs infrequently) are made available through inter-library loan agreements with various other libraries. Personal computers are available at UH and at Metro (in the department) for education, word processing, statistics, presentation graphics, and Internet access.

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What conferences are held?

Grand Rounds are held every Wednesday morning throughout the year. Weekly Tumor Boards are held at UH, the VA and Metro. Journal Clubs, Professors' Rounds, Mortality and Morbidity Conferences, Pathology Conferences, Radiology Conference and a potpourri of other lectures occur weekly throughout the year. Otology Teaching Conference is held on the second Tuesday of the month at 5 pm, immediately followed by the Research meeting at 6 pm. Audiology and Allergy lectures are provided to the residents on the Metro rotation.

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How do residents perform on Boards and in service exams?

The annual in-service examination is viewed as a "yardstick" of a resident's factual knowledge and helps us to evaluate his/her progress during the residency. Our residents have consistently scored well on this examination as is reflected by their performance on Boards. Two residents have taken and become certified by the American Board of Facial Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery, one of which scored the highest of all examinees taking the exam that particular year.

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What is the vacation schedule for residents?

All residents receive three weeks of vacation annually. Vacation weeks are chosen at the beginning of each academic year with each resident picking the "first" week of vacation by descending level of seniority. This cycle is completed two more times until each resident has had the opportunity to choose the three weeks. Conference time is provided in addition to vacation time.

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What is the pay scale?

Resident physicians are paid attractive stipends through the payroll of University Hospitals of Cleveland. As such, residents are entitled to the many benefits provided by the hospital. Specific figures are available from the UH housestaff coordinator upon request.

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What health care benefits are available?

UH offers QualChoice, a comprehensive medical program in which UH and most of its physicians participate, to full-time employees. The program features highly qualified physicians and other health care providers directly and indirectly associated with University Hospitals and other hospitals in the University Hospitals Health System (UHHS). You also have the freedom to receive care from any physician or hospital, though reimbursed to you at a lower rate. Dental coverage is also available. Details and fees are available through the UH residency coordinator's office.

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What arrangements are available for meals on-call?

UH and Metro each have a cafeteria where meals may be purchased. An"on-call" meal allowance program at UH provides a stipend for meal purchases when house officers are on duty in-house for more than 32 consecutive hours. A similar program exists at Metro.

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What is the history of the Department and what have former residents done upon completion of their residency?

In 1985, the trustees of CWRU and UH awarded Departmental Status to what had been a Division of General Surgery. Although many fine physicians were trained under the auspices of the Department of Surgery prior to that time, the training program had lost accreditation in the early 1980's and the residency program essentially ceased to exist. Anthony Maniglia, MD, our current Chairman, was identified through a search process, and came to Cleveland from the University of Miami as the first Julius McCall Professor and Chairman of the newly established Department. Since the inception of the program in 1985, all residents who have graduated have successfully passed their boards (see below).

Of those residents who have decided upon a career in private practice, most have "gone towards home" - to areas nearby their (or their spouses') families. Alumni who have graduated from the program now practice throughout the country in various settings: individually, group practices, multispecialty care organizations, etc. The following lists recent graduates of the program by year and the state in which they currently practice. 

Those who have gone on to fellowships are listed in italics.
Those who have gone into academic practice are listed in red.
 

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What sort of housing is available?

A wide variety of housing is available. In general, the cost of living in Cleveland is lower than average as compared to other cities of similar size. Numerous apartments are available a very short distance from the UH campus, as well as other apartments, duplexes, condominiums, and single homes at varying distances from the hospital. Most residents live on the East side, although some have chosen the West side, the more distant eastern suburbs, and even downtown locations. Many residents, especially those who are married, are able to afford to purchase a home and ultimately sell it, recovering their investment "and then some." It is not difficult to find a place to live, and additional information is available from the UH residency coordinator's office.

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What other provisions are made by the hospital?

Employment for spouses. The hospital has many positions available for qualified persons in various clerical and professional areas. If your spouse intends to work at UH, s/he may apply to the Personnel office at the hospital. CWRU also offers a variety of employment opportunities; their telephone number is 216.368.4500. There are many other potential employers in the Greater Cleveland area.

Insurance. UH furnishes professional liability and disability insurance for each resident physician as a benefit of employment. This insurance covers you during the time you are at University Hospitals or any of the affiliated hospitals of the program, as long as you are following a schedule issued by the Director of Residency Training.

Parking. Parking at UH is managed by University Circle, Inc. Monthly parking permits may be purchased when you register. Residents are usually assigned to a parking structure which is about a five minute walk from the hospital. There is a free shuttle bus which transports employees from the lots to the hospital in case of rain, snow, etc. At the VA, and MetroHealth, residents are not required to pay for their parking.

Recreational facilities. The University has a health club nearby ("One to One Fitness Center") with reduced rates for residents. The Human Resources Department offers many special discounts to employees for a variety of recreational/entertainment activities in Cleveland and throughout the country (e.g. Disney, Sea World, Universal Studios, Cedar Point, etc).

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What leisure activities are available in Cleveland?

Cleveland offers numerous forms of entertainment. The world renowned Cleveland Orchestra performs at beautiful Severance Hall, just across the street from UH. There is music to suit any taste performed live at many different locations and in various settings. We also have the Cleveland Opera, the Cleveland Ballet, the Cleveland Playhouse, and other professional off Broadway and community theater offerings.

Professional sports teams include the Indians (baseball) who play in the spectacular setting of Jacobs Field (The Jake), and the Cavaliers (basketball) who play in Quicken Loans Arena (The "Q"). Our professional football team the Browns play at the Brown's Stadium located on the shores of Lake Erie. Also available is the sport of thoroughbred harness racing.

There are numerous museums, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that attracts many visitors from around the country, a world re-knowned art museum, natural history museum, automobile museum, and botanical gardens. The most recent addition to our fine museums is the Maltz Museum of Jewish History.

There are many fine restaurants around the Cleveland area that serve practically every type and ethnic variety of food. There are shopping malls to fit any need. The waterfront is full of activity year round. The area includes the very popular Great Lakes Science Center and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Outdoor activities abound with Lake Erie and its miles of shoreline, and truly is a sailor's delight in the summer months. There are fine public and private golf courses, the Cleveland Metroparks system, Geauga Lake amusement park, and even local ski areas within about 30 minutes of the city.

In two hours or less, one can reach many exciting destinations: Cedar Point Amusement Park to the West, Akron and the Inventors Hall of Fame or Canton and the Football Hall of Fame to the South, and upstate New York with more challenging skiing and the Chittaqua region. Toledo, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Niagara Falls are not much further away, and Canada is only 40 miles across the lake. It is fair to say that Cleveland has almost any activity that one could look for and those things which the immediate area doesn't offer are likely to be found no more than a short drive away.

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How can I learn more about the Department?

This Website is constantly in the process of revision. Every attempt will be made to keep the information accurate when changes occur, and new material will be added which may be of interest. Therefore, we encourage you to Bookmark and visit this site again for the latest information about the Department. Some applicants have contacted former residents for information about the program and others have elected to do a one month elective rotation with us for an"insiders view" of the Department and the Residency Training Program. Certainly, those who choose to apply and are accepted for an interview can discuss the training program with the faculty and residents during the interview process.

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