Boot camp for ENT residents - Otolaryngology

The Department of Otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Lous hosted the annual Midwest Otolaryngology Simulation Training (MOST) on Saturday, July 27. The event serves as a sort of boot camp for early-stage residents in otolaryngology.

Washington University pediatric otolaryngologist Ben Speaker, MBBCh, demonstrates use of the bronchoscope for SLU resident Austin Armstrong, MD.

The event was organized by WashU pediatric otolaryngologists Jennifer Brinkmeier, MD, and Maithilee Menezes, MD, and facial plastic surgeon John Chi, MD. Started in 2016 at Saint Louis University, this year’s boot camp was the first to be held in the newly opened Multidisciplinary Surgical Simulation Lab on the WashU Medical School campus.

First and second year residents from WashU, Saint Louis University, UM-Columbia, and University of Tennessee participated in a selection of specialized procedures designed to provide hands-on instruction in a low-pressure environment prior to encountering these situations in their early clinical experience. Nineteen residents and just as many faculty mentors took part in the experience.

The stations through which small groups of 3-4 residents rotated, included:

Residents received one-on-one attention from the many faculty that took part in the course. Here, WashU facial plastic surgeon Emily Spataro, MD, guides University of Tennessee resident Joel James, MD, through some suturing techniques.

Cricothyrotomy
Local flaps and suturing
Epistaxis
Ear tube placement
Direct laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy (including building a bronchoscope)
Masking and intubation
Tracheostomy tube change

“I think this was our most successful year so far,” said Brinkmeier. “We were really able to take advantage of the new lab and give residents valuable hands-on time with the equipment they will encounter during these common procedures and clinical scenarios.”