| Otolaryngology | Head and Neck Surgery

The Pediatric Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Division at UCSF provides comprehensive care for children with disorders of the ear, nose, throat, head and neck. Our fellowship-trained pediatric otolaryngology faculty works together with our dedicated staff, nurses, and physician assistants, as well as pediatric subspecialists in the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, to ensure family-centered, evidence-based. In addition to our general pediatric otolaryngology practice, we provide multidisciplinary care for children with complex hearing, voice, airway, and swallowing disorders. Our team combines individual experience, best evidence from the medical literature, and the latest surgical innovations to develop an individualized care plan for your child. An emphasis is placed on discussion and understanding of the disease process and options for management. Once under our care, a focus is placed on supporting you and your child so that your experience is as safe and positive as possible.

Please visit the Pediatric Otolaryngology website for additional information.

The Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) has made some recent changes to improve patient access, with notable success. Since June, the division has significantly improved its ability to get patients and their families an appointment within 72 hours.

Three changes have occurred:

1. (877) UC CHILD (877-822-4453). Beginning in June, OHNS switched over to the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Access Center for all appointments. This single phone number simplifies the appointment process and enables access to all campuses and satellite offices. The goal is for the majority of parents to have an appointment scheduled by the end of the call.

2. Optimizing provider availability.

Every week, a pediatric OHNS fellowship-trained physician is assigned as the ear, nose and throat (ENT) hospitalist, with increased flexibility and availability to see patients in our outpatient, hospital-based clinics. This physician is also available for clinical questions through the same Access Center phone number.
Physician assistants are available for appointments Monday through Friday. They work closely with OHNS/ENT physicians in a collaborative, team-based care model.
A new ENT surgeon was added at the Mission Bay campus in July. The division is actively recruiting for another, which will bring the total to 11 physicians and three physician assistants on the care team.

3. Telehealth. The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted innovation in leveraging existing technology for patient access, including telehealth. This has enhanced the division’s availability to “see” patients quickly and help to decide if other workups and/or an in-person appointment would be of benefit for comprehensive care.

To schedule an appointment with the UCSF Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, call (877) UC-CHILD (877‍-‍822‍-‍4453).

Hearing and Communication Clinic Offers Access via Telehealth

Now, the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals’ Hearing and Communication Clinic (HCC) uses telehealth to provide in-depth assessments of children’s hearing impairments. Through a two-hour virtual visit with a multidisciplinary team, the HCC creates a detailed plan for how best to optimize a child’s hearing health, and how to implement the plan in the child’s own local community.

Families report high levels of satisfaction with the telehealth platform, since they can have the visit in the comfort of their own home without needing to travel.

The HCC assessment includes participation by pediatric otolaryngologists, speech-language pathologists and audiologists. A specially trained social worker is also part of the team to provide follow-up liaison to the local school system. In-person follow-up visits can be arranged subsequently for medical/surgical care, audiologic management and speech-language evaluation and therapy.

Conditions seen at the center include all forms of educationally significant, long-term childhood hearing impairment, including:

Congenital and acquired sensorineural hearing loss
Aural atresia/microtia
Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder

Cochlear implant recipients are also seen at the center for periodic evaluations and troubleshooting.

Hearing loss is the most common sensory impairment in childhood, affecting one of every 300 newborns. By age nine, that rate is one in 100 children since some hearing impairments develop over time.

To make an appointment at the HCC, contact Jenny Stephans at [email protected] or (415) 353‍-‍2012.

Innovative Contributions to the Safety of Children

The UCSF Pediatric Otolaryngology Division has created an interactive tool to allow users to estimate the likelihood that a child in any county of the United States, may have asymptomatic COVID-19.
Learn about how our award winning innovation contributes to improving the health and safety of our youngest patients.

Services We Specialize In

minimally invasive endoscopic management of airway disorders such as vocal cord paralysis, airway stenosis, chronic aspiration, and laryngomalacia
surgery for velopharyngeal insufficiency
sleep endoscopy for the evaluation of obstructive sleep apnea
sialoendoscopy for salivary gland disorders
ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration and comprehensive surgical management of thyroid malignancy
diagnosis and treatment of congenital head and neck masses and vascular malformations
cochlear implantation, implantable hearing aids, and endoscopic-assisted surgery for hearing loss and chronic ear disease

Multidisciplinary Clinics

Hearing and Communication Clinic

In this clinic, deaf and hard-of-hearing children are seen concurrently by a pediatric otolaryngologist, audiologist, speech-language therapist, geneticist, and social worker to provide a coordinated assessment of your child's hearing, develop a unified plan to optimize your child's hearing health, and to help you coordinate this plan in your community. Please visit the UCSF Children's Communication Center (CCC) for more information.

Voice and Swallowing Clinic

In joint visits with a speech-language pathologist, our pediatric otolaryngologists provide comprehensive evaluation and treatment of your child's voice, resonance, and swallowing, including fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) and videostroboscopy. Visit the UCSF Laryngology website for more information.

Aerodigestive Clinic

For children with complex airway and swallowing problems, joint visits and endoscopic exams with pediatric otolaryngology, pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology, and speech-language pathology provide families with coordinated, family-centered care.

Our Advanced Healthcare Provider (AHP) Team

The UCSF Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery department's Advanced Healthcare Provider team is comprised of Physician Assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) who work collaboratively with physicians to provide excellent patient care.

Our PAs and NPs are licensed healthcare professionals with post-graduate training who see patients with general otolaryngology, pediatric otolaryngology, and head and neck surgery conditions. They utilize the most up-to-date technology and evidence-based medicine to care for patients in preventative care, diagnosis, and treatment, including prescribing medications, performing outpatient procedures, and assisting in surgery. Both PAs and NPs are widely accepted by patients and are often more accessible to patients than physicians, spending more time with each patient, and are subject to periodic peer review and clinical outcome evaluations. Our Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery APPs are involved in clinical education, research, and/or administrative duties as well.

Physician Assistants
PAs are nationally board-certified healthcare providers who have completed 2-3 years of post-graduate medical training, which equips them to manage a variety of medical conditions.

Nurse Practitioners
NPs are board-certified advanced practice nurses who have completed 2-3 years of master’s degree training, which equips them to manage a variety of medical conditions.