Residency

Dear prospective resident applicants,

Welcome to our departmental website where we hope to give you some insight and background into our residency program. At the University of Arizona-Tucson, we take enormous pride in being able to train and graduate residents who are experienced and comfortable with every aspect of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. 

Except for a short period in the 1980s, the program was established in 2013 with 1 resident per year. We have had 6 successful graduates thus far. The ACGME recognized the impressive quality of the training program and awarded expansion to 2 residents per year beginning in 2021. The residents train with 13 core faculty attendings and 6 affiliated attendings with every subspecialty covered. Most of the training occurs at the main teaching hospital Banner University Medical Center-Tucson, but there are also rotations at BUMC-South, Veteran Affairs hospital Tucson, and private practice settings.  As a result, graduates are well-equipped and ready for independent practice in any setting. 

The department cultivates an atmosphere of collegiality and family. The residency is the pride of the department and we take great care to ensure residents receive the best possible training experience. Residents work 1 on 1 with attendings most of the time and there is a family like atmosphere to the program. Our department strongly values diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we make every effort to emphasize its importance with our faculty and residents. We treat a diverse set of patients and illnesses, with many of them traveling from all throughout Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. Tucson is the second largest city in Arizona with a metro population of about 1 million people. The weather is warm and pleasant all year around and is the perfect place for an outdoor lifestyle. 

We thank you for having interest in our residency program and for visiting our website. For more information, please contact our residency program manager, Sonia Romo at sromo@oto.arizona.edu.

Sincerely, 

Shethal Bearelly, MD

Residency Program Director