Teaching Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty is considered by many to be the most challenging operation that otolaryngologists do. Teaching rhinoplasty is even more challenging. In this issue of JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, Robitschek and colleagues provide a combination of rhinoplasty analysis, science, and teaching our younger colleagues. Their study is a well-designed, prospective look at the effect of a simple teaching tool (a 10-minute slide presentation) and the thoroughness with which otolaryngology residents analyze the nose from patient photographs. The study concludes that 10 weeks after the teaching session, residents continue to perform better at rhinoplasty analysis, especially in terms of describing the position of the caudal septum.