three rivers ear, nose & throat

Education & Resources
for Patients and Medical Professionals

Below are a number of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck (ENT) topics broken down into major categories, written in lay-person's terms, with lots of pictures and photos. Also included are a variety health-related topics outside of my specialty, and an assortment of non-medical topics, all for our reading pleasure. These are written in an informal and (hopefully) entertaining format,
meant to complement one's overall health and well-being.

Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Topics

Ear, Hearing & Vestibular System

Includes ear infections (otitis media and otitis externa), ear trauma and deformities, hearing disorders and audiologic testing, the mechanics of sound, vestibular disorders (dizziness and balance problems)

Nose & Sinuses

Covers a variety of nasal and sinus disorders such as breathing difficulty, sinus infections, nasal-sinus polyps, nasal and sinus surgery, and an assortment of weird stuff one can find in these areas.

Throat, Mouth and Larynx

Topics include sore throats, tonsil and adenoid problems, strept throat, tonsil stones, abscesses, voice problems and hoarseness.

Head and Neck

Covers infections, tumors, cancer and congenital disorders of the head and neck. This involves soft tissues of the head and neck, such as the salivary glands, thyroid and lymph nodes, and not problems with the spine or brain (which are addressed by a neurosurgeon or spine surgeon).

Topics on life-style, diet, exercise and financial well-being

Many doctors in general also provide advice and guidance outside our areas of expertise, in order to more fully improve a patient's overall well-being. This also applies to the teaching of residents and medical students. Amongst these are topics on diet, exercise, work-life balance, burn-out prevention, business and personal finance.

Lifestyle (including financial well-being)

Covers a diverse array of non-ENT topics regarding health and life-style in general, often using personal vignettes to illustrate the sublime nature and weirdness of life in general.

Business Basics for Physicians

Most physicians (myself included) received little to no training in matters of business. Yet the practice of medicine is no different than most any other business entity. This guidebook came about from my business lectures to residents and medical students. It starts from scratch, covering bare-bones business basics, and written in an entertaining, narrative format to enliven the concepts and make the reading more enjoyable.

Articles on KevinMD

The link here will bring you to a number of human interest articles I've had published on KevinMD, a national web-based platform where doctors, advanced practitioners, nurses, residents, medical students and patients share their insights and stories. I typically write about personal, character-shaping circumstances, and hardships that ultimately proved to be beneficial along the long journey as a doctor. The intent of these writings is to hopefully provide a bit of "wisdom" from past experience, and to be helpful to my other fellow human beings.

The Not-So-Great Guidebook to Childrearing for the Not-So-Bright Parent:
Inside the Head of a 21st Century Dad

A humorous parody of a self-help manual for raising kids. However, the advice is not to be followed literally, otherwise your kids will end up like me, which is not entirely desireable, so I was told. Proceeds benefit the Grace Clinic, a nonprofit clinic in the Tri-Cities providing health care to the poor.

randallfong.com

Education and Resources