Rotations include Trauma Surgery, Intensive and Critical Care Medicine, Oral Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Neurosurgery, Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, and General Surgery.

This is the first year of dedicated Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery concentration. Rotations will include time at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital where outpatient clinical care and trauma management is emphasized. This rotation is an excellent opportunity for early specialty surgical experience. The UCSF Parnassus provides exposure to tertiary and quarternary Head and Neck Surgical Patients with an emphasis on anterior and lateral skull base surgery. An intensive Pediatric Otolaryngology rotation is completed at the new, state of the art UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco and at the Benioff Oakland Children’s Hospital. PGY-2 residents also rotate at the Bakar Precision Cancer Medicine Building at the UCSF Mission Bay Campus where they focus on the surgical care of head and neck cancer patients.

Rotations at San Francisco General Hospital and the Veterans Administration Hospital provide additional exposure to care in these unique patient populations. PGY-3 Residents rotate through subspecialty specific rotations including rhinology, sleep surgery, laryngology, and facial plastic surgery. PGY-3 residents serve in an early leadership role in the Benioff Children’s Hospitals in both Mission Bay and Oakland. A special course in clinical research training is offered to all residents during protected time from clinical work in the summer of the PGY-3 year and is the catalyst for a future research block in the PGY-4 year.

The PGY-4 year includes a three month dedicated research rotation. Residents are provided with a menu of research opportunities from our faculty and select to work on Otolaryngology-related projects with faculty mentors inside our Department and in the greater UCSF research enterprise. An early chief resident experience is completed at the San Francisco General Hospital. The remainder of the year is spent as the chief resident on the anterior and lateral skull base service at the Parnassus campus and a dedicated block on the Otology service.

This final year includes supervisory, administrative, and leadership roles at UCSF Parnassus, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Veterans Administration Medical Center. Rotations are structured with dedicated subspecialty time on the Otology, Rhinology, Laryngology, Facial Plastics, and Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery services. The chief resident’s responsibilities include a busy surgical schedule, direct supervision of medical students and residents, as well as taking charge of the schedule for academic teaching and conferences. Although this is a rigorous year, and the learning curve is steep, the rewards are great.

At the conclusion of the Chief Resident year, our graduates are prepared for an academic position or an independent practice in the community. Many of our residents choose to go on to advanced clinical or research fellowship training. Many of our program graduates have gone on to become chairmen, academic faculty, and clinical leaders throughout the United States.