The Oregon Health & Science University/Doernbecher Children's Hospital offers a one-year, intensive clinical pediatric fellowship program with training in all areas of pediatric otolaryngology. Our program received ACGME accreditation in January 2024. 

Locations

We are an integral part of the Otolaryngology Head & Neck Department at OHSU including the Residency Program and the OHSU Medical School. 

Our group of Pediatric Otolaryngologists serves the only two tertiary children’s hospitals in all of Oregon: Doernbecher Children’s Hospital (DCH) at OHSU and Randall Children’s Hospital (RCH) through Legacy Health Systems. Both are located in Portland, OR, and they are an approximate 15 minute drive from each other. 

OHSU is the only academic hospital in the state of Oregon, and our two children’s hospitals receive patients from the entire Northwest region, Alaska, Idaho and Northern California. Doernbecher Children's Hospital is a 148-bed pediatric hospital, while Randall Children’s Hospital has 165 beds.   

Our Team

We have a total of 7 Pediatric Otolaryngologists on our team, with a variety of training backgrounds. We have at least two surgeons that specialize in the various subspecialties and in most of the surgeries we perform, leading to excellent clinical training for our fellow. 

We also have two inpatient and three outpatient advanced practice providers. Three are based at Doernbecher and three at Randall Children’s hospital. 

Clinical Exposure during Fellowship

We pride ourselves in providing broad training across the field of Pediatric Otolaryngology. Here are some of the specialized surgeries that we frequently perform: 

• Chronic ear surgery for middle ear disease and cholesteatoma, frequently using endoscopic techniques. 
• Cochlear implantation
• Surgical bone anchored hearing aid device placement. 
• Head and neck masses including congenital masses as well as cancerous ones. 
• Surgical management of vascular malformations. 
• Pediatric thyroid and parathyroid surgery. 
• Airway surgery including airway reconstruction surgery, using both open and endoscopic techniques. 
• Eustachian tube dilation surgery. 
• Botox injection and surgery for treatment of sialorrhea. 
• Cleft palate surgery
• Surgery for treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency. 
• Infant tracheostomy. 
• Complex and refractory sleep apnea surgery
• Inspire implantation
• Sinus and endonasal skull base surgery
• Management of fetal and neonatal giant neck masses
• Participation in the FETO program at OHSU

One or more of our team members actively participate with FACES (the Foundation for the Advancement of Cleft Education Services), a non-profit organization that travels 1-2 times yearly to Peru to perform cleft lip and palate surgeries. It is optional but encouraged that our fellow take advantage of this opportunity, especially if they have an interest in craniofacial surgery. 

Our Multidisciplinary Clinics

We participate in the following multidisciplinary clinics. [include hyperlink when available]

• DCH Aerodigestive clinic
• Voice Clinic
• Cleft and Craniofacial clinic
• Velopharyngeal Insufficiency clinic
• 22q11.3 Chromosome Deletion Syndrome Clinic
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Clinic 
• Hemangioma and Vascular Anomalies Clinic
• Pediatric Thyroid Nodule Clinic
• Complex Sleep Apnea Clinic

Fellow Duties

The fellow is involved in all complex surgical procedures and has the ability to mold their own schedule based on interest and preferences. Our goal is for the fellow to master the nuances of each surgery, but also to learn how to teach others. 

We prioritize preparing our fellow to be an attending physician themselves. They act as junior faculty with our team and are the first to give input on new inpatient consults from the resident and APP team. Sometimes, surgery is the “straightforward” part; learning how to work up a patient, when to operate, and when to not operate, are more challenging. This emphasizes the importance of experiencing clinic with each faculty member, and learning from all the many subspecialists that attend our multidisciplinary clinics. 

We have a weekly sign/out meeting and education session. The fellow and residents present case review conference each month presented along with the resident team. The fellow is also responsible for one Grand Rounds presentation during the year, and actively participates in the resident education program. Optional clinical and surgical time with other related services (for example, with our Otologists if there is a particular interest in pediatric otologic surgery) is available, based on the fellow’s interests and future clinical focus.  

Research Opportunities

The fellow will have the opportunity to develop their own projects or to join ongoing ones. As one potential starting point, we have active, extensive databases in the fields of pediatric thyroid disease, cleft palate and craniofacial disease, pediatric sleep disorders, and hemangiomas and vascular malformations. Dr. Derek Lam is NIH-funded in several studies in advanced sleep surgery and has numerous opportunities for involvement in related research.  We encourage our fellow to publish research and to present at National meetings, as our faculty all do. 

Summary / Key Points

• Licensing requirement: State of Oregon medical license 
• Appointment level: PGY-6, Fellow, Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery 
• Research: Required, with dedicated time provided 
• Resident supervision: Yes – active, in OR, inpatient and outpatient settings (otolaryngology and pediatric residents, as well as medical students) 
• Call responsibilities: One in 6 weeks with attending staff on call as back-up. Night/weekend call is from home. 
• Benefits: Medical, Dental, Professional Liability, Life, Long-term Disability, Vision, Reimbursement Account, Tax Deferred Annuity Program, Leave and Vacation 
• Salary: PGY6 
• Pediatric Otolaryngology Division Caseload: Over 1700 operative procedures and over 6500 clinic visits per year 
• Additional information: 12 full-time faculty members (7 surgeons and 5 APPs) cover the breadth of pediatric otolaryngology with unique areas of clinical expertise, including open airway reconstruction, pediatric thyroid surgery, hearing loss, sinus/endonasal endoscopic skull base, vascular malformation treatment and surgery, sleep medicine, cleft lip/palate/VPI and voice. 
• Prerequisites: At the time of matriculation, the candidate must have successfully completed an ACGME or RCPSC-accredited Otolaryngology residency program and passed Step 3 of the USMLE examination 
• Application procedure: Applicants will need to apply to the program using the Central Application Service (CAS). Fellowship Match will be facilitated by SF Match. Interested applicants can send any questions to Carter Michell (Fellowship Coordinator) at michelca@ohsu.edu.  

Current Fellow

Incoming Fellow 2027-2028: Alice Lee, MD (Currently chief resident at Montefiore Albert Einstein University in New York)

Previous Fellows

2025-2026      Emily Miller, MD (First ACGME-approved fellow)

2018-2019      Christopher Hargunani, MD

2016-2017      Dan Gordon, MD

2003-2004      Khalil Al-Mazrou (International Fellow)