Rhinology Fellowship

The Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at IU School of Medicine offers a one-year Rhinology fellowship. This experience focuses developing skills in assessment, treatment strategies and surgical techniques used in the management of complex rhinologic and neuro-rhinologic conditions. The fellowship will provide an experience that will prepare the trainee to enter into a career in academic rhinology.

Outside of clinical duties, a strong emphasis will be placed on the fellow’s role as a future educator, through interactions with otolaryngology residents and medical students and will culminate at the end of the year where the fellow will participate in the annual IU School of Medicine Anatomy and Histopathology of the Head, Neck and Temporal Bone Course.

The fellow will be involved in all advanced rhinology and neuro-rhinology cases and have the opportunity to participate in all open approaches to anterior skull base malignancy. The fellow will also have the opportunity to participate in functional rhinoplasty, including nasal valve repair and open rhinoplasty approaches, and spend time in clinic with our allergy/immunology partners.

Application

The deadline to submit applications for the fellowship year, beginning in July, is October through SF Match.

Fellowship Match

program director

Elisa A. Illing, MD

Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery

Read Bio Elisa A. Illing, MD

Clinical Expectations and Call Schedule

Each week, the fellow will have their own outpatient clinic for one half-day, where they will see patients with general otolaryngologic and rhinologic disorders; they will be provided one half-day per week to schedule their own operative procedures from this practice. The fellow will also spend two to three days in the OR and one to two days in the clinic per week. One day per week will be protected for research and administrative responsibilities. The fellow participates in the attending call schedule and is expected to take call for approximately 4 weeks over the course of the year. The fellowship allows mentorship with two fellowship-trained at multiple clinical sites, including IU Health Methodist Hospital, Riley Hospital for Children, Eskenazi Health and outpatient surgery centers. The attending rhinologists perform more than 350 cases annually, including primary and revision sinus surgery, complex frontal disease, orbital surgery, CSF leak and encephalocele repair and endoscopic and open approaches to the paranasal sinuses and skull base for resection of benign and malignant sinonasal neoplasms. On average, the rhinologists currently collaborate with the neurosurgical service on two cases per week.

The fellowship is not comprised of set rotations; however, weekly assignments will be made in order to prioritize exposure to advanced rhinology and skull base cases. The fellowship affords flexibility to allow fellows to develop skills in specific areas of interest, including in functional rhinoplasty and open anterior skull base oncologic surgery.

Research Responsibilities

During the course of the year, the fellow will be required to generate and complete two clinical research projects worthy of submission for publication and presentation at a national or international meeting.

The Division of Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery has an active clinical research program with current interests, including spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leaks, patient education of rhinologic conditions and classification of non-rhinologic facial pain and pressure. Opportunities for clinical basic science collaboration also exist with researchers from the Wells Center for Pediatric Research, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, the biofilm research group within the Oral Health Research Group at the School of Dentistry, the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University as well as outcomes research with the Regenstrief Institute. Our department also maintains close collaboration with our Pulmonary colleagues studying cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia. Fellows will be required to participate in at least two clinical research projects per year, worthy of publication and presentation at national or international meetings.

Supervision and Teaching Expectations

The fellow will be intimately involved in training of residents and medical students during the fellowship experience. This education will be in the form of didactic teaching in the departmental lecture series (approximately one lecture every three months). They will be given additional opportunities to provide supervised and unsupervised (when appropriate) instruction in the clinic, operating room and on the wards of the hospital. The fellow will also be asked to organize and run the team’s presentation at the weekly tumor board discussion. At completion of the academic year, the fellow will be given the opportunity to teach a portion of the rhinologic section of the annual IU Basic Science and Cadaver Dissection course.

How to Apply

The deadline to submit applications for each fellowship year beginning in July is October through SF Match. Interviews will be conducted in winter-spring in accordance with match guidelines. Those interested can learn more through the American Rhinologic Society or email Maggie Scully, residency coordinator.