Newswise — Two Loyola University Health System resident doctors are winners of the 2009 "Rhinology Bowl," a Jeopardy-like competition that tests physicians' knowledge of the nose and sinuses.

Dr. Devyani Lal and Dr. Adam Mariotti won five straight matches to place first in a field of more than 20 teams from top ear-nose-throat residency programs.

Like Jeopardy, Rhinology Bowl rewards speed and accuracy. Contestants are asked multiple-choice questions. The first person to press the buzzer earns points for correct answers, and loses points for wrong answers.

Lal, chief resident for Loyola's ENT residency program, is completing her fifth and final year as a resident. "She really knew her stuff," Mariotti said.

Mariotti is a fourth-year resident. "He was an outstanding teammate, and very quick with the buzzer," Lal said.

Rhinology Bowl was held during Rhinology World 2009 in Philadelphia April 15-19. The meeting is the world's largest gathering of rhinologists, who treat nasal and sinus disorders.

Lal and Mariotti will be reigning champs until the next Rhinology World meeting in 2018.

"Their victory is a demonstration of the great residency training program we have at Loyola," said Dr. James Stankiewicz, chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. "The ENT resident world knows Loyola is a force to be reckoned with."

Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and 28 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 561-licensed bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children's Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center.