Click here to download the COCLIA guide.
What is COCLIA?
Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery is a diverse specialty that continues to grow and expand. Residents are required to absorb this wealth of information during their training. This program is designed to help residents systematically acquire otolaryngology knowledge and to improve in-service scores.
Dr. Sheri Slezak, a plastic surgeon at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, developed the concept of COREQUEST Resident Educational Program. Upon instituting the curriculum in her program, she found in-service scores consistently rose to finally level off at the third year. The Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Maryland adopted these concepts and successfully applied them to our specialty in the form of “COCLIA.”
We have found this program to be an effective and fun way to learn otolaryngology. It has been well received by residents and faculty. In distributing this program nationally, we hope to improve resident education, test scores and overall knowledge base.
How it works
The program consists of a weekly conference in which 100 major otolaryngology topics are reviewed over a two-year period. Each resident is assigned a question. He/she is expected to read a chapter (textbook to be determined by the individual program) on the general topic and to respond to the question by preparing a one-page handout. Junior level residents will be responsible for the basic science or general anatomy and physiology questions. More senior residents are asked to review and discuss landmark or current journal articles pertaining to the topic. Chief residents are assigned management of difficult cases or oral board scenarios.
The one-hour session is devoted to the residents presenting answers to their questions in turn (junior to chief). In addition, they will have already made copies of the handouts for their fellow residents, so that by the end of the two-year program, they will be able to cultivate a binder (print or online) with pertinent information on the major topics. Each week, an invited faculty member who has experience in the topic is in attendance, but the teaching is generally by each resident as they answer their questions.
Principles
- Active learner-centered teaching is the basis of this program. A lecture by a faculty member will not be remembered (no matter how brilliant).
- Residents need to read basic textbooks and through this program should have read a text completely by the end of two years.
- As residents enter the third year of this program, they will review old material, but learn from answering different questions and reviewing new articles published in the last year.
- In writing the questions, I read a text chapter, “classic” articles, and recent journals from the last two years. These four sources allow me to vary the questions and cover a topic well. As the program grows, I continue to update the questions every two years.
- Any topic can be covered (i.e., coding).
- Peer pressure requires that they do their homework, as it will be very obvious if they have not.
- Conference must be scheduled at a time when all can attend. No ORs should be running or the residents should be exempt to attend their teaching conference. The program will not work if 1/2 of the residents are absent.
- A young faculty member, preparing for his/her boards, can be placed in charge of the program. He/she can coordinate the schedule, distribution of questions and the presence of faculty, who may be called on as the guest expert.
- Learning can and should be fun. We joke, make the question funny, have coffee, etc.
How to Use these Materials
For each topic, a question list is included. Assign each resident 1 or 2 questions. This can be done by e-mail or directly distributed at conference for the following week. Record the date and resident assigned so that you may use the other questions in subsequent years. For the 1st two topics, sample resident prepared handouts are included so that one can see what should be prepared. These topics can be scheduled in any order. One can follow a desired text’s chapters, anatomical order, etc. The program can be adapted to fit your institutional needs. For example, if your residents score low on the facial plastics section, then increase the number of these sessions and delete some to the topics in which they do well.
How to Use this Website
Instructions for the Faculty Coordinator:
- Click on “Curriculum Outline” to select the “Unit” and “Topic” to view the list of discussion questions.
- Email each resident the website link, the topic name, and the question numbers assigned to them.
Optional: Select one of the following options: Print, PDF, Email
*Residents will still need to visit the website to view any links, images, or video associated with the question.
Instructions for Residents:
- Click on “Curriculum Outline” to select the “Unit” and “Topic” to navigate to the topic assigned.
- Select one of the following options: Print, PDF, Email
- Type your answers and be prepared to share in a WORD document.
Optional: Images may be downloaded from the COCLIA site and saved.