Academic Curriculum

Grand Rounds and Didactic Lectures

Each Friday morning the department hosts a Grand Rounds lecture which typically consists of a resident presentation and comprehensive overview of a pertinent topic designed to coincide with the topics covered in the COCLIA review syllabus. There are also opportunities for Grand Rounds lectures given by faculty or invited guests. This is followed by a one hour didactic lecture given by a faculty member.

Morbidity and Mortality Conference

Once each month the M&M Conference replaces the Friday morning didactic series.

Head and Neck Tumor Boards

A weekly Treatment Planning Conference is hosted Thursday afternoons at Methodist University Hospital in conjunction with the University of Tennessee Cancer Institute (UTCI). This is attended by all residents. New head and neck cancer cases from the teaching services at Methodist and The Med as well as patients evaluated in the UTMG clinic with Dr. Samant are discussed.

The VA Medical Center has a weekly Tumor Board on Thursdays at noon which is attended by the VA ENT service.

Finally, there is also a twice-monthly Baptist Head & Neck Tumor Board attended by the Med/Baptist junior and chief.

Patient Care Rounds

Each week following the Methodist Treatment Planning Conference there are one or two presentations of interesting and infrequently encountered cases recently seen by the residents. The format for this session is that of a clinical case presentation followed by a brief review of the topic and discussion amongst the residents and faculty members.

Board Review

The final component of the Thursday academic session is a dedicated block of time for resident board review following Patient Care Rounds. Once monthly, this session is directed by recent program graduate, Dr. Chris Hall. The remaining three weeks of the month the residents are assigned questions from the Coclia review syllabus and related reading assignments from Cummings, Bailey, and Pasha. The COCLIA questions are reviewed as a group and followed by practice questions that simulate those encountered on inservice and board examinations.

Research Conferences

Dr. Herb Gould conducts a monthly Monday afternoon research conference with the residents. Topics include reviews of new databases and tools available to the physician scientist. This is also an opportunity to provide additional guidance in the formulation and successful execution of resident research projects.

There is also a monthly research conference on a Thursday afternoon that precedes the Methodist Treatment Planning Conference. This is conducted by Dr. Samant and the UTCI staff. Topics discussed include new developments in surgical and medical trials for the treatment of head and neck cancer.

The annual Ed Cocke Symposium consists of a keynote lecture by an invited guest speaker followed by resident presentations of scholarly activity and research projects from the preceding year.

Temporal Bone Course

Dr. Bruce MacDonald hosts a two day temporal bone course for the residents held at least once annually. The course is split into two sessions for junior and senior residents and consists of lecture and hands-on dissection in the temporal bone laboratory. The temporal bone laboratory is also open to the residents year-round with an ample supply of cadaveric bones for developing surgical dissection techniques.

Head & Neck Anatomy

Each year the PGY-2 residents attend all lectures and laboratory sessions of the Head & Neck section of the Gross Anatomy Course offered by the UTHSC College of Medicine Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology.

Courses and Conferences

All residents are encouraged to attend regional and national courses, conferences, and academic meetings. Travel funds are provided.