In addition to excellent clinical training, the Department of Otolaryngology at UIC believes a basic understanding of research methodology is critical in becoming a successful surgeon. Whether one has a desire to enter academic medicine or join a private practice, a good clinician needs to stay up to date of current literature. To have knowledge of basic study design, clinical epidemiology and statistics allows a clinician the ability to critically analyze literature, know whether to adopt a new treatment, change a practice pattern or ignore a trendy study.

Just like teaching you to perform a surgical procedure, our job is to teach you both basic research skills and develop the ability to critically assess literature. Residents are required to participate in research activities throughout the five years of their residency program. The research block entails 3 months that fall within the PGY 3 year.