Grand Rounds

Every month, the Audiology Dept. at my hospital holds grand rounds. Grand rounds is every 1st Thursday of the month during the lunch hour (lunch is provided!). All the audiologists, neurotologists (our ENT doctors are neurotologists), and residents are invited to attend, while the 4th year Audiology externs (K-Mo and myself) present interesting cases to them. Basically, the presentation consists of choosing an interesting case study (typically a patient presenting with an uncommon disease or disorder), and supplementing it with research articles or books sharing information about the disease/disorder and supporting the care or treatment given to the patient. For my first one, I choose to present on Otosclerosis! Otosclerosis is a common form of hearing loss in adults. It is essentially a bony growth in the otic capsule (the bone surrounding the inner ear) and results in the fixation of the stapedial footplate (part of the 3rd tiny bone, aka "stirrup", of the middle ear) in the oval window (the opening leading from the middle ear to the inner ear). This prevents the ossicles (3 middle ear bones) from vibrating, and transporting sound from the middle ear to the inner ear resulting in a conductive hearing loss (a loss which may be correctable by surgery and is not related to the hair cells in the cochlea). In more serious cases, the bony growth can grow into the inner ear, ossifying the cochlea and resulting in sensorineural hearing loss. This type of hearing loss can not be corrected with surgery. Throughout the presentation, the audiologists and neurotologists chime in with lots of discussion and questions. I will admit it. I was scared. It is a very intimidating environment. But, all in all, a very good experience. K-Mo and I both present every month and we learned a lot from the process, the research and especially from the enticing discussion that took place. One down, eleven to go!