Rhinology Fellowship Program

The MedStar Health - Union Memorial Hospital Fellowship Program in Rhinology 

Overview

  • One fellow per year for one year, with a tentative start date of July 1 of each year.
  • Applicants must have completed residency training in otolaryngology (US or international).
  • Responsible teaching faculty: Alan H. Shikani MD, FACS (Chief, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Union Memorial Hospital, Sinai Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital).
  • The fellow’s training will be focused on symptoms or diseases referable to the nose and paranasal sinuses, although there will also be the opportunity for exposure to a broad variety of ENT diseases.
  • The fellow will share the call schedule with one of the supervising attending physicians. He/she will be in the operating room at least two half days per week and in the clinic the remaining days. The fellow will have a chance to participate in supervision and teaching of residents and medical students at the Union Memorial Hospital and Sinai Hospital. These teaching institutions have a residency program in General surgery and in Internal Medicine. There are no otolaryngology residents at these hospitals who could potentially compete for ENT cases with the fellow.
  • The fellow will see clinic patients with the attending and will participate in supervision and teaching of residents and medical students at the Union Memorial Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital and Sinai Hospital. These hospitals are teaching institutions with a residency program in general surgery and internal medicine. There are no ENT residents in these hospitals.
  • The fellow’s training will be focused on symptoms or diseases referable to the nose and paranasal sinuses, although there will also be the opportunity for exposure to a broad variety of ENT diseases and surgeries.
  • The fellow will be in the operating room at least two half days per week and in the clinic the remaining days. Our ENT clinic is set up as an office-base surgery center and the fellow will have a chance to assist and/or perform different office based procedures (including in-office balloon sinuplasty, minimally invasive endoscopic sinus surgery, endoscopic septoplasty, coblation procedures, etc.).
  • There will be two weeks’ vacation per year and one additional week for an educational meeting.
  • Salary and benefits will be commensurate with the number of years of prior training in otolaryngology.
  • The fellow will have the opportunity and will be encouraged and to:
    • Attend local rhinology conferences and grand rounds at the Johns Hopkins, and Greater Baltimore Medical Center departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, when possible.
    • Attend one national meeting or rhinology course during his/ her training year, when possible.
    • Submit one abstract to a major national meeting, if possible.
    • Submit one paper to a major journal on research generated during his/her training, if possible.

 

Why train here

Departmental Missions Statement

The aim of the fellowship is to offer a high-quality one-year subspecialty training program in Rhinology. The fellowship experience will include exposure to all aspects of medical and surgical rhinology and related disciplines, in adults and children, including endoscopic sinus surgery, treatment of olfactory disorders, functional nasal surgery & treatment of nasal obstruction, cosmetic nasal surgery, approaches to the pituitary, and removal of paranasal sinus neoplasms. The fellowship may also provide opportunities for clinical research in Rhinology. At the present time, our research program is focused topical therapy for chronic rhinosinusitis (Gel-Rhinotopic therapy), balloon sinuplasty and chitosan treatment for recalcitrant epistaxis.

 

Curriculum

Clinical Rotations: The fellow’s rotations will cover two MedStar Health institutions in Baltimore (Union Memorial Hospital and the Good Samaritan Hospital) and one LifeBridge institution (Sinai Hospital), and they also spend time in the Maryland Nose & Sinus Center in Lutherville.

Weekly Schedule: The fellow’s responsibility is to attend the ENT clinic at least three days per week, where he/she will do, under the supervision of the ENT attending staff, thorough evaluation and complete examination of patients, perform ENT and rhinology office procedures under local anesthesia (including in-office sinuplasty, minor endoscopic sinus surgery, coblation of inferior turbinates, nasal endoscopy, laryngoscopy, endoscopic nasal biopsy, etc.), provide treatment and appropriate follow up, as indicated and under supervision of the attending physician. The fellow will also scrub in the OR with the attending physician two half-days a week.

Research Responsibilities: The fellowship will also provide opportunities for clinical research in Rhinology, covering different aspects of nasal/sinus/airway diseases. Our current clinical research program revolves around novel techniques in sinus surgery (such as balloon sinuplasty), topical therapy for chronic rhinosinusitis.

Diversity of Cases: The fellow surgical duties will include accompanying the attending physician in the operating room at least two days per week, and performing surgery and/or assisting in surgical procedures as indicated, and under supervision of the attending physician. By graduation, the fellow should have knowledge and proficiency in most of the following nasal surgical procedures:

The fellow is required to keep an operating room log of his cases in the form of a spreadsheet with a condensed summary of cases/ CPT codes. There is an opportunity for the UMH and Sinai Surgical residents and medical students to assist with interesting ENT cases and an opportunity for the rhinology fellow to teach them.

Call Schedule: The Rhinology fellow takes calls covering MedStar Health Union Memorial Hospital, MedStar Health Good Samaritan Hospital and Sinai emergency room and floor consultations. The call’s duration is one week at a time, and rotates every other week (always in tandem with one of the ENT attending physicians).

Additional Responsibilities:
Rhinology fellows, in accordance with the Institutional vacation policy, receive a maximum of three weeks off work per year. Two weeks are a guaranteed vacation time and the other week is to be used for meetings and conferences. All vacation time must be logged/tracked by both the fellow and the department; approval must be given by the Program Director or his designee prior to the start of the vacation.

 

Our people

Past Fellows:

Diptarka Bhattacharyya, MD 2017-2019
Hassen Omer Mohammed, MD 2017-2018
Abhishek Ramadhin, MD 2016-2017
Michael Schlewet, MD, 2015-2016
Nadim Koueir, MD, 2015-2106
Damien Sequiera, MD, 2014-2105
Rabia Shihada, MD, 2013-2014
Rahul Mehta, MD, 2012-2013
Ziad Rohayem, MD, 2011-2012
Konstantinos Kourelis, MD, PhD 2010-2011
Mohammad Alqudah, MD, 2009-2010
Karim Chahine, MD, 2008-2009
Rony Aouad, MD, 2007-2008
Walid Dagher, MD, 2006-2008

 

Training locations

  • Maryland ENT at Lutherville
  • Maryland ENT at Union Memorial Hospital
  • Sinai Hospital ENT Clinic

 

Application information

Applications are accepted any time within the Academic year that precedes the beginning of the fellowship on July 1 of the subsequent year. Interviews and recommendations are required and may be arranged during a visit to Baltimore, during the fall American Rhinologic Society Meeting or if travel is not possible a Skype interview may be arranged.

The deadline for interviews are the last week of May within the Academic year that precedes the beginning of the fellowship on July 1 of the subsequent year.

For more information or to apply, please visit: https://sfmatch.org/