Info about Neuro-otology?

[JP2740]

I saw this mentioned in the sticky as a fellowship opportunity.

How does this differ from the ENT subspecialty? I have never seen any information about this. What programs provide it? How are the wages?

My ideal situation is dealing with inner ear disorders, but I was never interested in doing surgery. This has actually shocked me. I'm really excited. Someone tell me more!

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[neurologist]

I saw this mentioned in the sticky as a fellowship opportunity.

How does this differ from the ENT subspecialty? I have never seen any information about this. What programs provide it? How are the wages?

My ideal situation is dealing with inner ear disorders, but I was never interested in doing surgery. This has actually shocked me. I'm really excited. Someone tell me more!

Neuro-otology is a subspecialty of neurology focusing on disorders of the auditory and vestibular system. You can use a lot of fancy devices to precisely localize the location and explain the etiology of the patient's dizziness, and maybe treat it. You will not get paid much more than the average neurologist, which is to say you will be one of the lowest paid specialties.

ENT is a surgical subspecialty. While they do deal with problems like dizziness and hearing loss, their approach tends to be more surgical in nature and chronic dizziness that they can't operate on will get sent to a neurologist. They also do broader surgeries on the head and neck (nose, throat, etc). They make much more money than neurologists.

There are not a lot of neuro-otologists running around; most are in academic centers and few do exclusively neuro-oto. "Dizziness," however, is a common problem and if you could draw from a large enough population for teriary referrals, you might be able to focus more on this particular issue.

 

[Mattchiavelli]

I saw this mentioned in the sticky as a fellowship opportunity.

How does this differ from the ENT subspecialty? I have never seen any information about this. What programs provide it? How are the wages?

My ideal situation is dealing with inner ear disorders, but I was never interested in doing surgery. This has actually shocked me. I'm really excited. Someone tell me more!

They will also assist in the workup of patients with deafness and referral for cochlear implants to surgeons, some of this will involve pretty advanced neurophysiological workup beyond what a speech/language pathologist can provide. You might then follow the patient in clinic afterward to manage their medical device, or the surgeon might, it depends on the clinic setup. As the neurologist you will probably be one of the first people the patient meets in working up their hearing issue, but you will not by physically putting anything in because that's a surgeon's area. Of note- it's something you can have a focus of interest in but AFAIK there aren't "Neuro otology boards" to take to get certified as a subspecialist

 

[JP2740]

I was never interested in doing surgery, but I wanted to treat patients with ear problems. This is definitely something I have a huge interest in. I also want to be in academics, so it sounds perfect for me.

There must not be many fellowship opportunities out there for this. Does anybody know much about the opportunities for this?

Anything I should look into during my medical school years?

 

[BlackFrancis33]

Go to the aan.com website, click education, then residents and fellows, then fellowship directory. 3 programs are advertised. Despite, lack of a board you will be recognized by your Neuro and ENT colleagues for having this expertise and referred the recalcitrant chronic dizziness patients.

 

[JP2740]

Go to the aan.com website, click education, then residents and fellows, then fellowship directory. 3 programs are advertised. Despite, lack of a board you will be recognized by your Neuro and ENT colleagues for having this expertise and referred the recalcitrant chronic dizziness patients.

Thanks for the resource.