From the “Sub-Sterile”
A message from the Chair: Bill Collins
“Change is good.” It is important to remind ourselves of that, because I, like most people, will forget it in the heat of the moment when confronted with a new OR assignment, Epic update, or scrub tech student. In an academic surgical department like ours, change is forced on us, like it or not, every June and July as one crop of residents and fellows graduates and the other crew starts. For this June edition of the newsletter, I want to celebrate our latest graduates.
We used to celebrate Resident Graduation every year with a celebration dinner in the evening, followed by skits roasting the faculty, residents, and particularly the graduates (I am certain many of you still have some great memories of those skits!). But as our department has now grown, it has become much more than just a Resident graduation. This year we will not only celebrate the successes of our 3 graduating Chief Residents, but also another Head & Neck fellow. And for the first time, we will also graduate a Fellow in Advanced Otology, as well as Research fellows in Head & Neck, as well as in Rhinology. So we are much more than just a residency program – we are growing as a training ground for the future leaders in our field. Please join me in congratulating all of those who will officially receive their UF stamp of approval and move on to the next phases of their careers at the end of this month! Proud to be UF ENT!
Congratulations to our 2023 Graduates!
Chief Residents:
Hadley Heindel IV, MD
Joining his father in private practice Otolaryngology in Noonan, GA
Favorite UF memory:
Tough to pick just one however can think of a fun memory to share: There was a day when we had only one head and neck attending in town and this attending had an all day clinic scheduled. There were no OR cases scheduled and our inpatient census was abnormally light. A few days before this clinic day, we began double booking that particular morning clinic in order to clear the afternoon schedule. The morning clinic then filled with 40ish patients but was covered by the H&N fellow, the HNS, HNJA, HNJB, and the intern. Between all 5 of us, we managed to crush morning clinic load and then grab a celebratory lunch at La Tienda.
Advice to incoming chiefs:
For the incoming PGY5s, soak it all in. The last year of residency definitely flies by the fastest. Personal time is precious, we often run from the hospital as soon as we’re done with our clinical duties, but every now and then stick around for a few extra minutes to chat with anyone else who’s still around. Sometimes it’s the on call resident or maybe an OR that’s running late into the night. Either way, the camaraderie is worth a few extra minutes of your time. I promise.
Mauricio Parra-Ferro, MD
Joining a private practice Otolaryngology group in Coral Springs, FL
David Rengifo, MD
Pursuing a fellowship in Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Houston Methodist Hospital
Clinical Fellows:
Samuel Smith, MD
Joining faculty as an Otologist at University of Tennessee-Memphis Department of Otolaryngology
Jared Crothers, MD
Going to Virginia to fulfill his commitment in the United States Air Force
Research Fellows:
Krishna Hanubal, MD
Matched into Radiation Oncology at UC-Irvine
Advice to next fellow:
Never be afraid to ask for help. This team at Shands is so incredibly generous with their knowledge, and I will always be extremely grateful for having the chance to learn here.
Andrew Hess, MD
Matched into Otolaryngology at Dartmouth University
Advice to next fellow:
Try and understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. There maybe a lot going on that you don’t understand that contributes to the whole project, but if you can own what you are doing and fully understand the ins and outs, that will carry you a long way.
Favorite UF memory:
Favorite memory would be hanging out with members from the department at FCOM 2022. That is where I really felt the congeniality of the department and see everyone outside of a work place setting.
Research Day and Graduation Round Up
RESIDENT AWARD WINNERS:
Head & neck resident of the year
Jacob Poynter, MD
Resident research 1st place
Christina Palomo, MD
resident research 2nd place
Janyn Quiz, MD
fellow research award
Andrew Hess, MD
Resident teacher award
Hadley Heindel IV, MD
Resident teacher award
Michael Gebhard, MD
FACULTY AWARD WINNERS:
faculty teacher of the year
Neil Chheda, MD
faculty researcher of the year
Peter Dziegielewski, MD
faculty researcher of the year
Jennifer Mulligan, PhD
More Photos:
Let us know what is new in your life!
We would love to know what is new in your life: job promotions, leadership positions, new children or grandchildren, or any other exciting life updates. Please send these updates to william.collins@ent.ufl.edu or nichole.haring@ent.ufl.edu and we can include them in future newsletters.
If you are interested in learning more about giving back to the department, please click the link here.