Three residents and two fellows completed their training in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School in June 2011, and two new residents will begin their training in July 2011. They will care for patients at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“With four participating hospitals, we offer our residents a very rich clinical experience, including a large volume of cases and a broad range of pathology,” says residency program director Samer Fakhri, MD, FACS, FRCS(C), an associate professor at McGovern Medical School and a core physician at the Texas Sinus Institute. “We base our residency program on the concept that producing caring, competent physicians who are also leaders in the field requires a mutual commitment between educators and trainees to uphold the highest standards of clinical practice, and to work to advance the art and science of otolaryngology.”
Clinical rotations are structured to be subspecialty specific. “Residents spend two months in each intensive subspecialty rotation, a training process that ensures continuity of care and has been well received by our residents. We have outstanding faculty who teach, mentor and provide effective role models for our residents,” says Ronda Alexander, MD, an assistant professor in the department and core physician at the Texas Voice Performance Institute. Dr. Alexander assumed the role of assistant residency program director in the spring of 2011.
Educational activities for residents include weekly three-hour didactic sessions, attendance at local and national conferences and continuing medical education events and extensive surgical opportunities in a state-of-the-art dissection facility that includes laboratory space for teaching minimally invasive skull base dissection lab and temporal bone anatomy. Residents may also participate in facial plastic and laryngology dissection sessions.
“The effectiveness of the education and training we provide our residents is reflected in their 100 percent success rate on the American Board of Otolaryngology certification exam,” says Dr. Fakhri, who has directed the residency program since 2006. “ That statistic has held true over the last decade.”
Graduating Residents and Fellows
Esther Cheung-Phillips, MD, Yuri Gelfand, MD, and Stephanie Herrera, MD, completed their residencies in otolaryngology in May; all three physicians have joined private practices and will be providing patients with comprehensive care of otolaryngologic health challenges. Drs. Cheung-Phillips and Herrera earned their medical degrees at The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Dr. Gelfand received the Doctor of Medicine from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.
Li-Xing Man, MD, MSc, MPA, has completed a one-year fellowship in rhinology and will be joining the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. Dr. Man received his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2005 and completed his residency in otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2010.
Samir Undavia, MD, leaves the department after completing a one-year fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. Dr. Undavia received his medical degree at New York Medical College in 2005 and completed his residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery