Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Program

Program Identity & Fit

Wake Forest is a longstanding academic otolaryngology program (training residents since 1947) built around a single-campus, high-volume tertiary/quaternary referral hospital (933-bed Level I trauma center) serving a multi-state catchment across the western Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. The program's distinguishing structural feature is its team-based subspecialty rotation model (four teams covering pediatrics/rhinology/general, otology/laryngology/facial plastics, head and neck oncology, and trauma/consults) combined with a low faculty-to-resident ratio that fosters close one-on-one attending interaction. A signature element is the longitudinal resident continuity (OPD) clinic, in which residents independently manage the same patients' full care continuum for years, explicitly designed to counter the national trend of otolaryngology trainees being underprepared for outpatient practice. Research is structurally embedded (four dedicated months, mandatory submissions to three national meetings) but oriented toward producing well-rounded clinician-surgeons rather than physician-scientists, and graduates pursue a mix of private practice, academic medicine, and fellowship training.