Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Rotation

The Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery Rotation includes resident education in both the office setting and operating room, in addition to exposure to clinical trials. Resident involvement is primarily during the General Otolaryngology Rotation, and somewhat during the Head and Neck Surgery and VA Rotations.

Residents will learn office based ultrasound of the neck, including thyroid, parathyroid, salivary glands, and lymph nodes, as well as ultrasound guided fine needle biopsy. Residents will be exposed to medical management of thyroid and parathyroid disorders, as well as preoperative and postoperative management of outpatient surgical patients.

In the operating room, residents will gain experience with traditional thyroid and parathyroid surgery, as well as minimally invasive video assisted surgery and re-operative thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Residents will gain experience in laryngeal nerve identification and preservation techniques including nerve integrity monitoring. Residents will also gain practical experience with rapid parathyroid hormone testing, as well as frozen section histology and touch prep cytology as adjuncts to parathyroid and thyroid surgery.

Multidisciplinary teaching conferences occur twice monthly, to include endocrinology, surgery, pathology, and nuclear medicine in a case-based learning modality.