Clinical Component

Navigating the Clinical Component

The basic week is 2-3 days in the OR and 1.5-2.5 days in clinic with a half day for administrative work. You can have the type of cases you and to do and be as busy as you would like. Essentia prioritizes giving physicians the autonomy to build their practice the way that they want.

Our ENT clinic is well supported. We have a fantastic support staff with 2 ENT physician assistants(they do not do surgery or take call). The practice is very productive with these great APPs doing pre and post opp as well as initial work ups so that the physicians can be in the OR more. They are responsible for:

There are procedure rooms in clinic that the physicians are using for procedures such as:

MOHS reconstruction
Temporal artery biopsy
Ear/lip excisions

Cases are done at our main hospital, Essentia Health Fargo. It is a level II trauma center with 133 beds, 10 newborn intensive care beds, a birthing center and 24-hour emergency room. They are also a Comprehensive Stroke Center. They use block scheduling for the OR. It is not difficult to get block time as long as you are busy. If you are trained in and interested in robotics, there is a daVinci Xi robot available to use.

The top cases the group does most frequently are ear tubes, tonsils, septoplasty and rhinoplasty. However, there is a huge need in head and neck. Endocrinology refers endocrine, thyroid and parathyroid cancers to them frequently. The local VA and some of the private ENTs also refer head and neck patients to Essentia. The group also does the full spectrum of otology as there is a constant pipeline of referrals for patients needing ear surgeries and ear reconstruction. Neurotology and free flaps are referred out to Dr. Smart (a private ENT) or to Sanford, the competing hospital that has a level 1 trauma designation. Though Sanford is the main competitor in the area, they have such a long wait that most patients end up coming to Essentia for care since they can be seen sooner.

Call: Call is 1:5 with no facial trauma. Call is manageable, they have great ER docs who can usually care for the patients so the ENTs do not have to see them until follow up 3-5 days later. Facial trauma call is optional. Complex trauma is referred to Sanford.