Fellowship Research
The pediatric otolaryngology fellow will complete at least one (1) clinical research project during the fellowship training. The fellowship will utilize the research infrastructures of the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO) to carry out its research program. The Department of Otolaryngology research enterprise is primarily through the laboratory of Katherine J. Rennie, PhD who chairs the Research Committee on behalf of the department. There are various research resources available to further any ongoing research projects in all phases of research including literature search, grant application, database setup, data collection, and data analysis.
The pediatric otolaryngology fellow will be required to collaborate with a faculty mentor to develop research ideas for submission to the Department of Otolaryngology Research Committee for critical evaluation in terms of scientific merit and other methodologic concerns. They will complete a protocol submission to the Institutional Review Board for approval. They will conduct the research in terms of data collection and analysis as well as manuscript preparation. Two ½ days are set aside during the week for self-study and research. The program director will hold monthly meetings with the fellow and research progress will be part of the meeting agenda.
CHCO has the Research Institute staffed by PhD statisticians who can render statistical consultation, data analysis, and other computing services. Additionally, current collaborative efforts by faculty members can be a resource for pediatric otolaryngology fellow research. Examples include Dr. Chan who has collaboration with the Department of Infectious Diseases at CHCO and the Department of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at National Jewish Research Medical Center. Additionally, Dr. Friedman collaborates with the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at CHCO.
The pediatric otolaryngology research curriculum consists of lectures with topics that range from speech and swallowing disorders, hearing loss and its work up and treatment, congenital anomalies of the head and neck, airway anomalies and reconstruction, etc. Lecturers include both pediatric otolaryngology faculty and adjunct clinical faculty from other departments.
The research methodology component of the pediatric otolaryngology fellowship is comprised of collaboration with an existing program within the Department of Pediatrics geared for their fellows from various subspecialty fellowship programs at CHCO. The curriculum runs from August to December every year. It covers four 2-hour presentations on evidence-based medicine to include literature search. It also includes an introductory course on statistics that spans seven 2-hour sessions.