ENT

Hastings have paediatric inpatients and Eastbourne have ENT adult inpatients. Both sites have consultant led outpatient clinics and ENT SHOs on-call. Both sites also have operating lists covering a wide range of ENT procedures

Clinical Work and Support

At ESHT a number of specialist services are offered and these include:

  • Allergy testing
  • Tracheostomy clinic
  • Voice clinic
  • Vertigo clinic
  • Sleep studies/sleep apnoea clinics
  • Radiology MDT’s
  • Thyroid and parathyroid MDTs
  • Otology
  • Neck Lumps

Trainees are assessed using the Eportfolio system, with consultants at each site with specific educational interests.

At the start of the placements, trainees are encouraged to attend a one day ENT emergencies course in Brighton.

By the end of the trainees placement they should be familiar with the following common conditions:

  • Epistaxis
  • Rhinits
  • Sinusitis
  • Otitis medica
  • Otitis externa
  • Unilateral hearing loss
  • Otalgia
  • Neck lumps
  • Hoarse voice
  • Vocal cord palsy

Shift Pattern and Rota

Currently the FY2s and CT1s are on a hospital at night rota. This involves doing your ENT job 9 – 5 Monday to Friday. Not including zero days. Out of hours you, and a SHO colleague will cover a number of different surgical specialities. This includes weekends and nights. The busiest of these specialities is urology. However, the rota has been designed so that you should be on-call with another doctor who has a day job in urology. At first it is a little daunting, but its a good opportunity to have some urology experience in an advanced specialist centre

‘ENT as a Junior doctor in East Sussex involves treating a wide range of disease in a wide range of patients. From paediatric patients to the elderly, treating with medicines or operations, ENT offers something for all doctors. A large portion of ENT in ESHT is outpatient based and junior doctors have the opportunity to sit in on consultant led clinics and sometimes run their own SHO led clinic. A large proportion of a junior doctor’s day will involve assessing ward and A&Emp;Emp;E referrals. It’s a busy job with a steep learning curve, but you will find you become surprisingly competent at dealing with common problems early in the placement. It’s a very enjoyable and rewarding job. Particularly good for people who want to have a career in GP, paediatrics, A&Emp;Emp;E or surgery, but have not made up their mind regarding speciality.’

‘I chose this ENT rotation at East Sussex following glowing recommendations from previous core trainees who have since progressed to ENT registrar level. This 6 month job has a good balance of service provision and training. I feel that one of the highlights has been the 1:1 training in theatre with Consultants. The team generally seem to really ‘root’ for their trainees and support their preparation towards the registrar cross over.’

Dr Michaella Cameron – CT2

Educational Opportunities

On the Job Training

During the ENT placement, there are opportunities to see acute presentations of ENT disorders in A&E and on the ward. You will see children from a few months old, to the elderly population, with support from the senior staff. There are also opportunities to sit in on consultant clinics. The core surgical trainees are rotated into regular theatre sessions, but there are also plenty of opportunities for keen foundation doctors to attend theatre. You will be expected to become familiar with managing common ENT pathology and competent in a range of minor ENT procedures, such as nasal cautery and aural microsuction. This is a busy attachment with plenty of on-call during the days, but for the enthusiastic trainee, there are lots of clinical, audit and presenting opportunities

ENT Teaching

Meetings with Radiology (twice monthly 2nd and 4th Thursday at 1pm)

Journal Club meetings (sporadically)

Teaching in OPD and on ward rounds