Two ORL Faculty Members Receive 2012 Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award


November 30, 2012

Samer Fakhri, MD, FACS, FRCS(C), an associate professor and residency program director in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, has been recognized with the medical school’s Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award for the seventh time. Also recognized in 2012 for the second consecutive year was otorhinolaryngologist Sancak Yuksel, MD, who is an assistant professor in the department.  The Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award is an annual recognition to faculty for their outstanding teaching performance.  The award is presented to faculty and volunteers who have exhibited outstanding teaching, incited intellectual curiosity in their students and engaged them in the learning process, helped them develop lifelong skills or otherwise served with distinction.

“I am humbled to have been recognized numerous times for doing what I enjoy,” Dr. Fakhri says.  “Our role as effective educators is central to the mission of the medical school and UTHealth.  As physicians and surgeons, we view our commitment to educate young physicians in the broader objective of providing excellent care to our patients and community at large.  I am proud to say that this vision is shared among UTHealth faculty.”

Sancak Yuksel, MD

Sancak Yuksel, MD

“I always wanted to be a teacher and a surgeon,” Dr. Yuksel says.  “Sharing my knowledge hones my medical skills.  To teach, you have to stay current with the literature and think carefully about how you present information because the futures of their patients are in your hands.”


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