Residency Program

UCI ENT Residency | Affiliate Hospitals

UC Irvine Health is the only academic health system in Orange County, the 6^th most populous county in the United States. Its main hospital is the UCI Medical Center, an approximately 500 bed tertiary medical center and a level I trauma center. Recent updates to the medical center have doubled the number of operating rooms and include advanced intraoperative monitoring systems integrated with digital HD technology. Touch-screen technology controls every function in the room, with surgeons able to view diagnostic images and medical records on the spot. Otolaryngologists perform head and neck cases using the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System and have access to intraoperative MRI for joint neurosurgical and skull base cases. Five to seven residents rotate at UCI Medical Center at any given time. Residents participate in both inpatient and outpatient surgical settings at the medical center. The surgical ICU and stepdown units provide a first-rate patient experience and optimize workflow for residents and faculty.

Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) is a renowned children's hospital serving Orange County. It is located 2.2 miles from UCIMC and is a 5-minute drive from the medical center. Currently, 7 fellowship-trained pediatric otolaryngologists teach at CHOC, Drs. Gurpreet Ahuja, Kevin Huoh, Nguyen Pham, Jay Bhatt, Qiu Zhong, Ryan Camilon, and Felizardo Camilon.  One resident rotates at CHOC full time and is able to participate in a wide variety of cases including pediatric thyroidectomies, cochlear implants, cleft lip and palate repair, airway reconstructions, advanced sleep surgeries and pediatric head and neck surgical cases. There is a weekly pediatric Otolaryngology clinic at CHOC staffed in rotation by the pediatric otolaryngologists and the pediatric otolaryngology resident and includes didactics lead by the faculty and the resident that provide for a rich learning environment.

Kaiser Permanente Anaheim and Irvine Medical Centers are the hub for the Kaiser rotation. Two residents rotate at Kaiser during the PGY-3, 4, and 5 years, which provides exposure to an integrated HMO setting. The Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery department at Kaiser Permanente Orange County is led by Dr. Terry Shibuya, a world-class skull base and head & neck surgeon. Faculty include fellowship-trained subspecialists in Facial Plastic Surgery, Head & neck oncologic surgery, rhinology & skull base surgery, and neurotology. This rotation provides a high volume of sinus surgery, head & neck cases, and thyroid surgery. There is also exposure to skull base and otologic surgery at this site.

The Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Long Beach (LBVAMC) is a large VA medical Center located approximately 14 miles from UCIMC. LBVAMC has an active Otolaryngology clinic with general otolaryngology, otology, and a strong exposure to facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. It is also a major referral center for cochlear implants in the VA system.