Dr. Yao Named Among Castle Connolly’s Top AAPI Doctors
Rhinologist William C. Yao, MD, associate professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, has been named among Castle Connolly’s Top Asian American and Pacific Islander Doctors 2023. This year marks the first time Castle Connolly has recognized exceptional AAPI doctors, 350 of which were selected across 35 states and 63 specialties. Dr. Yao, who also is co-director of the Texas Sinus Institute Rhinology and Skull Base Fellowship and director of the Otolaryngology Residency Program, has been a Castle Connolly Top Doctor since 2021.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Yao received his medical degree at the University of Colorado Health Science Center School of Medicine, where he was inducted in Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society in 2008. He completed residency training in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, where he was recognized with the 2014 Resident Teaching Award. He subsequently completed a fellowship in rhinology and anterior skull base surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School.
Fluent in English and Japanese, Dr. Yao has a strong interest in surgical technique and residency education, including the development of teaching instruments. He is the author of chapters in many textbooks, as well as numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals. He has been awarded the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award at McGovern Medical School every year since 2017 and Faculty Member of the Year Award on multiple occasions. Dr. Yao focuses his clinical practice on disorders of the nose, sinus, and skull base. He remains devoted to delivering cutting-edge medical and surgical management of chronic rhinosinusitis and paranasal sinus diseases, as well as advanced endoscopic sinus surgery, revision sinus surgery, skull base, and orbital surgery.
The new AAPI distinction is part of Castle Connolly’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Initiative, which honors top clinicians and enables patients to find Castle Connolly Top Doctors who have shared backgrounds and experiences. To create the listing, the organization surveyed its current Top Doctors – the top 7% of physicians in the United States, all nominated by peers – to gather information about their race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual identity.