Welcome from Residency Program Director
It's my pleasure to welcome you to the Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery Residency
Program at McMaster University. Since its establishment in 2003, the resident training program
has evolved into a program of excellence in didactic, clinical, and surgical teaching in the full-breadth of otolaryngology. Through five academically affiliated tertiary care hospitals, our resident training program serves 2.3 million people in the greater Hamilton area, the surrounding Niagara peninsula, as well as parts of central-south and central-west Ontario. As a result of this complete training, our residents routinely leave the program as highly competent and respected surgeons in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
The residency training program is a five-year program with two Ontario Ministry of Health funded residents each year. The first 12 months provide core surgical training and are spent off-service. The remaining 48 months are spent on-service with 3 months of elective time. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons is transitioning to a new competency-based approach called Competence by Design (CBD). Our program welcomed the first cohort of CBD residents in July 2017 and as the first group of programs to transition into CBD, our program has comfortably adapted to the new Royal College standard of Postgraduate medical learning.
Current faculty consists of 11 full-time Otolaryngologists and 12 adjunctive faculties from the
surrounding community sites that also provide teaching. The sub-specialty interests of the faculty
include otology, neuro-otology, pediatric otolaryngology, head and neck surgical oncology, facial
plastic and microvascular reconstructive surgery, facial cosmetic surgery, and rhinology. Adjunctive
appointees to the Department have expertise in head and neck surgical oncology, rhinology, facial
plastics, and maxillofacial trauma, vestibular medicine and communicative disorders.
Aside from academic teaching, resident research is a strong component of the training program.
Residents are taught the fundamental basics of research and are mandatorily required to be
involved in academic research. Completed projects are presented at a Resident Research Day held each fall where prizes are awarded for excellence. As a result of this thorough training, our residents have performed well at national and international meetings across North America.
The Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery resident training program at McMaster University provides complete and thorough surgical training. The strength of the program is our exceptional faculty core supported by adjunctive teachers who combine to not only prepare our residents for the full breath of community Otolaryngology practice but also the foundation to pursue further sub-specialty academic training.
Please feel free to contact the Program Director with any questions or requests.
Clerkship
The Division of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at McMaster University welcomes medical students to apply to the Electives Program at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. Participation in the program will afford McMaster students, and visiting students from accredited schools an opportunity to experience a wide range of self-directed activities before graduation.
Residency
Our Postgraduate Training Program offers a considerable amount of flexibility for the fulfillment of self directed learning and individual research interest. Our educational program design is founded on necessary key competencies stipulated by CanMEDS and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, to enable our graduates to function as expert consultants in Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery. Our program graduates will exemplify the highest and finest levels of professional abilities described by CanMEDS.
Off-service Residents
Our Residents have prepared an Orientation Handout for all off-service residents. Please review at the beginning of your rotation.