Friday Mornings and Wednesday afternoons are times set aside for didactic teaching and educational conferences. No clinical activity is scheduled during this time, and attendance on the part of the attendings and housestaff is mandatory. Conferences during this five hour block are on a rotating schedule and include:
Interesting Case Conference: On Friday mornings, housestaff and faculty gather to discuss interesting cases from the inpatient services. The emphasis is on diagnostic and management issues, and incorporates a strong evidence-based approach by utilizing web-based databases in real time.
Grand Rounds: Residents participate in giving Grand Rounds as do attendings and other local experts and national speakers.
Curriculum Conference: This conference emphasizes education by reviewing either textbooks, COCLIA (Comprehensive Otolaryngologic Curriculum Learning through Interactive Approach), SIPACS or other available educational material. Faculty sub-specialists participate in the discussions which are led by the residents.
Morbidity and Mortality/Patient Safety Conference: Every two weeks, housestaff and attendings participate in this conference which includes interesting cases, deaths and unusual diagnoses. System issues are stressed as well to improve efficiency.
Head and Neck Tumor Board: Head and Neck patients are discussed in this multi-disciplinary setting with Hematology-Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Dentistry, Pathology, Radiology and other involved sub-specialties. Patients are presented by residents and attendings.
Systems-Based Practice Seminars: A series of interactive seminars incorporating the business of medicine and the functioning of the practitioner and patient within the context of the greater medical system. Topics include billing and reimbursement, contracting, managing personal and professional finances, applying for a job and a variety of others.
Ethics: The UNM Health Sciences Center hosts a bi-monthly ethics seminar series for all housestaff. Topics have included End of Life Issues, Physician Assisted Suicide, Ethics of Genetic Testing, Professionalism and a variety of other topics. Additional ethics information may be found at: http://hsc.unm.edu/ethics.
Clinical Basics Lecture Series: This series of lectures is given every July-August and is designed to introduce the new housestaff to the "must-know" information of the specialty. Emphasis is placed on emergency procedures and patient evaluation.
Pathology: Residents and attending spend this conference with a staff pathologist reviewing normal histology, histopathology, and recent cases from the service.
Temporal Bone Lab: In teaching block, usually expanded to two or three hours, residents drill temporal bones from our ample supply. Our neurotologist leads the drilling and each resident has their own station.
Journal Club: This monthly conference is led by an attending who picks the articles and topic. The conference is held at a local restaurant and always encourages lively discussion.
