HEADMIRROR’S ENT BOOTCAMP

Welcome to Headmirror’s ENT Bootcamp! Herein, you will find an organized 12-week study program that covers all of the most high-yield otolaryngology content to prepare you for starting intern year. The goal of this study program is to provide incoming interns with a manageable and efficient plan to begin the daunting task of developing expertise in the field of otolaryngology. Keeping in mind that the end of fourth year is also meant to be enjoyed, the study schedule is designed to be completed in only 4-5 days of studying per week, with each day entailing roughly 30-45 mins of learning. The overarching study plan itself is broken into 2-week segments that attempts to cover most of the highest yield content within a given subspecialty while also incorporating key fundamentals of related on-call content and surgical procedural information. Most study days will also incorporate optional “extra” work if time and motivation allow.

The study schedule incorporates very limited reading so that the bulk of the studying can be performed passively (i.e., while driving or exercising) or in brief breaks throughout the day (i.e., answering questions). To this end, the study schedule incorporates ENT in a Nutshell podcast episodes, Survival Guide articles, and questions from specific OtoRecall sections. These modules will provide you with a foundation to build literacy within the field; to enable you to start speaking and thinking more like an otolaryngologist. The covered topics were all carefully selected to provide the highest yield material to develop a framework, knowing that the learner will build on this foundation throughout residency.

Course At a Glance
Weeks 1-2: Rhinology and Sinus Surgery
Weeks 3-4: Otology and Neurotology
Weeks 5-6: Pediatric Otolaryngology
Weeks 7-8: Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Weeks 9-10: Head and Neck
Weeks 11-12: Laryngology

Course Content Overview
I. Rhinology and Sinus Surgery
·  Nasal obstruction
·  Epistaxis and its acute management
·  Chronic rhinosinusitis with and without nasal polyposis
·  Management of acute sinusitis, including acute fulminant invasive fungal sinusitis 
·  Benign and malignant sinonasal lesions

II. Otology and Neurotology
·  Understanding and interpreting the audiogram
·  Adult sensorineural hearing loss
·  Pediatric sensorineural hearing loss
·  Chronic ear disease including cholesteatoma
·  Sudden hearing loss and its acute management
·  Management of complicated acute otitis media including mastoiditis

III. Pediatric Otolaryngology
·  Sleep disordered breathing and obstructive sleep apnea
·  Recurrent acute otitis media and chronic otitis media with effusion
·  Pediatric airway
·  Basics of pediatric neck masses
·  Management of acute peritonsillar abscess and deep neck space infections

IV. Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
·  Rhinoplasty
·  Brow ptosis, blepharoptosis, and dermatochalasis
·  Acute and chronic facial nerve paralysis and their management
·  Local, regional, and free flap reconstruction of the head and neck
·  Principles of laceration repair

V. Head and Neck
·  Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma
·  Oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma
·  Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma
·  Salivary gland tumors, benign and malignant  
·  All things tracheostomy

VI. Laryngology
·  Airway emergencies in adults
·  Unilateral vocal fold paralysis
·  Laryngotracheal stenosis
·  Benign laryngeal lesions
·  Cricopharyngeal muscle dysfunction including Zenker’s diverticulum

NOTE: If you have already started doing OtoRecall questions, you are welcome to keep topics “on” that you feel comfortable with. Know, however, that the study program is designed to slowly incorporate more of the OtoRecall content but in manageable chunks that reasonably allows the learner to take advantage of the long-term retention benefits of spaced repetition learning. Note also that by the end of the 12 weeks, you will have turned on the majority of the highest yield content within OtoRecall. This will allow you to keep using the app in the spare minutes you have while on various rotations to retain the information you learn over the next 12 weeks.

Download clickable Word document of Boot Camp curriculum here.

Sample of weekly curriculum

Sample of weekly curriculum