Specialty
Ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery

Educational technique
Quarterly rhinoplasty forum

Details
Having identified a lack of opportunity for surgeons to share and continue to learn from their collective knowledge and experience, consultant in ENT and facial plastic surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare, Mr Kalpesh Patel established a regular meeting for all levels of surgeons - the quarterly rhinoplasty forum. This forum, now in its fourth year, takes place at Imperial College healthcare’s St. Mary’s Hospital education centre and is open for all levels of surgeons and interested doctors to attend.

The quarterly rhinoplasty forum succeeds by virtue of its effective and varied approach to learning. Consisting of four parts, the meeting begins with a journal club wherein papers relevant to rhinoplasty surgery from world literature in the previous three months are reviewed and approximately ten to 12 papers are presented in summary. The clinical context of these papers is discussed by the presenter so the attendees have a consistent ‘take-home message’ from each paper.

The second component of the forum consists of didactic teaching, which usually comprises a 20 minute lecture on a relevant subject, followed by a subsequent lecture by a visiting speaker. Over a two-year cycle, the content of the didactic teaching covers all aspects of nasal surgery and equips any junior doctors with the knowledge to satisfy the exit FRCS exam.

The third part of the quarterly meeting is entitled Research in the Region, where anyone in the pan-Thames region involved in rhinology research is welcome to present their studies. Some researchers find this a particularly useful opportunity to present to a non-confrontational audience for constructive critique, or in preparation for a definitive presentation at a national or international meeting.

Finally, the fourth component is dedicated to interactive clinical cases, where attendees view recent cases and are invited to assess them and suggest a surgical plan. Following each interactive case study, the actual post-operative result is shown and discussed further, highlighting the differences in surgical management.

The quarterly rhinoplasty forum provides a unique opportunity for all interested surgeons and doctors to learn in this interactive and high-impact environment, improving attendees’ understanding of this complex surgical area and ultimately improving patient care.

For more information on the quarterly rhinoplasty forum, contact Mr Kalpesh Patel directly.