The general educational goal of the Otolaryngology program at the University of Louisville is to help our residents obtain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to be competent otolaryngologists, head and neck surgeons, and to prepare them for practice in the twenty first century. The specific knowledge and skill objectives that we focus on are those defined in the Special Requirements for Residency Education in Otolaryngology. These include bronchoesophagology, facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, head and neck surgery, laryngology, rhinology, otology, Otolaryngologic allergy, immunology, endocrinology, and neurology. In addition to these specialty specific objectives, there are issues and challenges facing residents today as they enter practice that are included in their curriculum. These include competency in providing high quality, cost-efficient care, and a general knowledge of population based medicine and practice management. The attitudes addressed in the curriculum include communication skills, humanistic skills, and professionalism. Our educational goals are met by a curriculum consisting of instruction and service on clinical rotations, formal didactic conferences, assigned text and journal readings, assigned temporal bone and cadaver dissections, and formal continuing education courses. Residents are exposed to broad based clinical environments and patient populations throughout their residency, spending time at the University Hospital, Veterans Administration Medical Center, a private adult hospital (Norton's Hospital) and Kosair Children's Hospital. Rotations are assigned to provide the residents with a comprehensive inpatient hospital experience, an outpatient clinic experience, and both an inpatient and outpatient operative experience.