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Department of OtolaryngologyState of the Department
The Head and Neck Service has continued to expand under the leadership of Gady Har-El, MD. Other attending physicians include Jessica W. Lim, MD, Egbert J. de Vries, Krishnamurthi Sundaram, MD, John Dodaro, MD, Sanjay Kantu, MD and Douglas Finn, MD. Due to the high volume of cases at the affiliated hospitals, it has become necessary to double the frequency of the multidisciplinary Head and Neck Tumor Conference at which most cases are discussed. We have also benefited from the active involvement of many other departments and services that join us in the care of head-and-neck patients. Dr. Har-El has recently been named Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology of Lenox Hill Hospital but continues his involvement with our department. Dr. Egbert de Vries has recently been recruited to serve as Chief of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery in our departments at University Hospital and Kings County Hospital Center. One of the most exciting developments has been the continued growth of the laryngology division under the direction of Boris Bentsianov, MD, a graduate of our residency program who completed the laryngology fellowship at St. Luke's Roosevelt, and returned to the department as Director of Laryngology. Dr. Bentsianov practices in both the Atlantic Avenue office and in his private office in Brighton Beach. He trains the residents in all aspects of laryngology including videostroboscopy. He will be involved in recruitment of an associate in the near future. The Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, under the leadership of Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH, has provided services at LICH, KCHC and UHB with patients coming from throughout the northeast and other areas for their care. The research effort in pediatric otolaryngology that is led by Nira A. Goldstein, MD, along with Dr. Rosenfeld, has been remarkably productive, generating many papers that make substantive contributions to improved patient care. Several years ago Ari J. Goldsmith MD had relocated his practice to Long Island but will be returning as Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology in January 2008. We are confident that recruitment efforts for a replacement will be successful and that growth in pediatric otolaryngology will continue. The Otology Service, under the leadership of Neil M. Sperling, MD, has expanded its Cochlear Implant Program and is continuing to explore implantable devices for improvement of hearing. Matthew Hanson, MD, who trained at Columbia and completed a fellowship in neurotology with Michael Glasscock, MD and Gary Jackson MD in Memphis, and who has most recently been on the full-time academic faculty at Temple University, has been recruited from Temple University to serve as Chief of Otology for University Hospital of Brooklyn and Kings County Hospital Center. Abraham Shulman, MD, Mauro Ruffy, MD, and Mohsen Habib, MD contribute to the otology programs. The Otology Service at the VA Hospital has been enhanced by the addition of Ramez Habib, MD, who graduated from our program in 2004. There has been a significant expansion of the Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. We were fortunate to recruit Richard Westreich, MD, after completion of his fellowship at Mount Sinai. Dr. Westreich is engaged in private practice at 144 Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights as well as in other locations. He staffs resident cases at VA and KCHC. He is exploring some innovative procedures in the cosmetic area. Also, Afshin Parhiscar, MD, who has completed both of our otolaryngology residency and a plastic surgery residency at SUNY Downstate is rapidly increasing his work in this division. He brings much experience with reconstructive surgery, use of free flaps and other innovative techniques. Residents continue to benefit from the rotations to the cosmetic surgery offices of Mark A. Erlich, MD, in Manhattan. One of the highlights of the year has been the creation of a new Otolaryngology Education and Conference Center at Long Island College Hospital. With substantive donations from alumni, faculty members, grateful patients and corporate colleagues we have been able to create a conference center that seats 36 people. It has a complete otolaryngology library with current journals and has modern audiovisual equipment. In addition, there is an Office for the Research Resident donated by Dennis Lee, MD, a graduate of the residency program, in honor of Dr. Rosenfeld, and an Office for the Chief Resident donated by Drs. Kanihaiyalal, Sanjay and Manoj Kantu in honor of myself. The library includes a collection of books donated by the family of the late John Conley, MD, and various anatomical models and material donated by Felix Shiffman, MD. In the spring of 2004 we opened a new Education Center and Conference Room at University Hospital in honor of Gady Har-El, MD. All funds were contributed by alumni of the residency. The educational materials in this area are being expanded. In addition, extra space for resident education as Kings County Hospital Center has been obtained by the department. Resident training efforts have been strong at all five training sites as a result of the continued growth of the patient base and expansion of the faculty at each site. Jessica W. Lim, MD, has done a superb job in directing the coordinated residency training effort. Further expansion of the departmental initiatives in additional regional hospitals promises to extend this growth in future years. With the important input of many physicians and others who participate in the teaching program, the residency has received Continued Full Accreditation from the ACGME for 4 years. Because of new requirements for training in certain areas (including increased focus on socioeconomic, medical-legal, ethical and other practice-related issues), the department has thoroughly revamped the curriculum and introduced additional conferences. Also, the department is coming into compliance with ACGME requirements for providing training in the six general competencies (patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, system-based practice), documentation of performance in these areas and use of outcome analysis to improve the overall resident training program. As of July 1, 2005, the Department of Otolaryngology has also been responsible for the PGY-1 year. We have been working closely with Michael Zenilman, MD and Alexander Schwartzman, MD from the Department of Surgery to effect a smooth transition in the planning of this year. Among the other highlights of the past academic year are the following:
The three residents who graduated from our training program in 2006 have moved on to further training and practice opportunities. Tahl Colen, MD has entered an otology fellowship with the California Ear Institute in the San Francisco Bay area. Jared M. Wasserman, MD has entered a laryngology fellowship with Ramon Franco, MD (a graduate of our program) in Boston, MA. Ryan Borress, MD, has joined a practice group in Poughkeepsie, NY. It has been particularly gratifying to see how many medical students are now rotating through the department, both from SUNY Downstate and from other schools throughout the world. The department's medical student education program had been carefully structured by Ari J. Goldsmith, MD and is now managed by Christopher Song, MD who graduated from the residency program in 2004. The program includes rotations for medical students from all four years: introductory electives for first and second year students, and more comprehensive electives for students in the third and fourth years. This approach allows for early exposure to the field of otolaryngology, and improves the chances of potential applicants to match successfully. In addition, the department offers a one-month elective in Pediatric Otolaryngology. Students not pursuing otolaryngology are also given extensive opportunity to become educated in the clinical intricacies of the head and neck region. One additional departmental initiative has been the implementation of a program on teaching residents how to teach medical students. In the area of scholarly research and publications, we continue to show excellent productivity. During the past 5 years there have been 182 publications by faculty and residents. During the past year alone there have been 6 resident presentations and 9 resident publications. In the year 2006-2007, Drs. Goldstein and Mangiardi received a grant from the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology for the study of the "Comparison of Polysomnography Outcomes for Microdebrider-Assisted Partial Intracapsular Tonsillectomy versus Total Tonsillectomy". Dr. Joseph McPhee received an undergraduate student research support grant from the NIH Bridges to the Future Program. Faculty members were engaged in several research projects in various disciplines of Otolaryngology. Dr. Nira Goldstein worked with A. Francis on the safety of preoperative sedation in children with sleep-disordered breathing. Drs. Har El and Goldstein collaborated on a study of Post-obstructive pulmonary edema following laryngospasm in the otolaryngology patient. Dr. Tarashansky and Goldstein worked on primitive neuroectodermal tumor presenting as a neck mass. And Dr. Goldstein collaborated with several other researchers on the quality of life after tonsillectomy in children with recurrent tonsillitis. Drs. Boruk and Rosenfeld completed work on caregiver well-being and child quality of life. And Drs Rosenfeld, Har El and Sundaram worked together on the study of the prevention of post-laryngectomy pharyngocutaneous fistula. We are particularly pleased to congratulate Christopher de Souza MD, from Mumbai visiting assistant professor, for the publication of his sixth textbook. He has contributed to our departmental conference program and has involved many members of the department in his numerous publications. Also, Bhuvanesh Singh, MD, PhD, who graduated from our residency program and is now on the clinical and research staff at Memorial-Sloan Kettering continues to participate in the resident training program and offers a research elective to interested residents. The department's basic medical research facility at the SUNY Downstate Medical School is equipped to carry out molecular genetic research. This includes tissue culture, gel electrophoresis, PCR and gene screening. The latter technique is currently being used to study human keloid formation. Cooperation between the Basic Sciences faculty and Head and Neck Surgery has resulted in the first significant differential gene screening of keloid patients. The identified, abnormally expressed genes are now being analyzed to determine the underlying cause of keloid formation. The same gene screening technique has also been used to screen for abnormal gene expression in various carcinomas of the head and neck. The Department has continued to look into the efficacy of this technique in rapid screening for tumor markers in novel neoplasms. We are particularly grateful for the tremendous contributions made by many otolaryngologists in Brooklyn and the surrounding regions. They are listed later in this report but deserve special recognition for the multiple ways in which they have enhanced the department, including teaching residents and medical students, bringing in patients to support our several hospitals, participating in departmental conferences and social activities and being a constant source of advice based on their many years of experience. We are also extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with so many colleagues in various departments at all of our hospitals and to have received substantive support from the administrative and management teams. Without the support of these important groups, little could be achieved as an individual department. We have also benefited from the loyalty of our alumni who provide support to the department in many ways. For example, 3 years ago, Vittal Rao, MD, a 1977 graduate of the Long Island College Hospital Department donated a large amount of virtually new equipment including a Sharplan laser, Storz video system, nine fiberoptic endoscopes and other equipment that will be used to support the academic program. If we had had to purchase the equipment, the cost would have been over $100,000. We are particularly grateful for the tremendous contributions made by many otolaryngologists in Brooklyn and the surrounding regions. They are listed later in this report but deserve special recognition for the multiple ways in which they have enhanced the department, including teaching residents and medical students, bringing in patients to support our several hospitals, participating in departmental conferences and social activities and being a constant source of advice based on their many years of experience. We are also extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with so many colleagues in various departments at all of our hospitals and to have received substantive support from the administrative and management teams. Without the support of these important groups, little could be achieved as an individual department. We have also benefited from the loyalty of our alumni who provide support to the department in many ways. For example, 5 years ago, Vittal Rao, MD, a 1977 graduate of the Long Island College Hospital Department donated a large amount of virtually new equipment including a Sharplan laser, Storz video system, nine fiberoptic endoscopes and other equipment that will be used to support the academic program. If we had had to purchase the equipment, the cost would have been over $100,000. We have also been fortunate to work with a marvelous support staff who have handled many of the day-to-day details of departmental functioning, stimulated many changes and improvements in various policies and procedures, served as departmental representatives in various institutional meetings and supported the department in many other ways. Billy Tang continues to do a superb job as administrator primarily handling activities at the SUNY office site, along with the preparation for the recent RRC site visit. The coming year promises to continue the challenges of the past and some of these challenges offer great opportunities for our department. SUNY Downstate has created a biotechnology center in the vicinity of the institution that promises to increase collaborative research productivity. LICH's role in Continuum Health Partners should enhance clinical growth. Aggressive construction programs at Kings County and the Brooklyn VA, along with increased faculty recruitment at Maimonides have also benefited our department. The constant state of change within the academic and clinical communities whom we are privileged to serve will also stimulate us to make every effort to assure excellence in all of our activities. I hope that we can continue to count on the support of all who have enabled the department to achieve so much in the past, as we prepare to address these new challenges. Sincerely, |
The 2006-2007 academic year marked the sixteenth anniversary of the creation of the Department of Otolaryngology of the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and affiliated hospitals. The department resulted from the combination of the former Department of Otolaryngology of Long Island College Hospital with the Division of Otolaryngology in the Department of Surgery of SUNY Downstate and the University Hospital of Brooklyn. The current academic structure for resident and medical student education also includes affiliations with otolaryngology services at Kings County Hospital Center, the Brooklyn Veterans Administration Medical Center and Maimonides Medical Center. Our program has benefited greatly from the involvement of so many voluntary and part-time attending physicians who participate in our many academic and clinical activities.