The Women in Head and Neck Surgery Service of the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) are now accepting nominations for the Margaret F. Butler Outstanding Mentor of Women in Head and Neck Surgery Award.

Dr. Margaret Butler was the first female otolaryngology chairperson in the United States. In 1906, she was appointed Chair of Ear, Nose and Throat at Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. As a respected otolaryngologist and an ambassador of the specialty, Dr. Butler provided a blueprint for future generations of female otolaryngologists.

The purpose of this Award is to recognize individuals who have demonstrated leadership in promoting gender diversity in the field of Head and Neck Surgery and its related endeavors. A secondary goal is to encourage further  training and mentorship of women leaders in our specialty.

The awardee will receive an honorarium and will be honored at the Women in Head and Neck Surgery Reception on Tuesday July 21, 2020. Individuals nominated for this award will have the following qualities:

1. Demonstrated leadership and consistent track record of promoting gender diversity and equity in head and neck surgery and its related fields.
2. Consistent support and promotion of women in head and neck surgery and its related endeavors, including demonstrable mentoring of women career advancements and promise through merit-based career advancements and promotions.
3. Measurable impact in the promotion of women in head and neck surgery, such as career advancement of mentees, mentorship in publications and research, etc.

Present or past member of the AHNS are preferred but not required.

#BeLikeButler

 The application closes December 15, 2019 5PM EST.

Please click here to submit your nomination application.

Dr. Raquel Zemtsov and her colleagues were recipients of a 2018 AHNS Community Service Award. Five awards of $1000 each are awarded annually by the AHNS Cancer Prevention Service.

Because we were fortunate to receive the American Head and Neck Society Community Service Award, the University of Cincinnati Head and Neck Cancer team was able to provide resources to our head and neck cancer screening attendees that aided in their follow-up. This grant enabled us to gain important information on factors that impact follow-up for patients who have difficulty accessing health care. Grant money was used to fund a screening-specific patient navigator who identified barriers to follow-up and provided targeted, individualized interventions. One such intervention was to provide bus passes to patients which the grant made possible. Our data demonstrated that the presence of a patient navigator significantly increased follow-up compared to other screenings where such a role was not present (p=0.0026). Copyright to a literacy tool was purchased using grant funding to allow our team to define the health literacy of populations at different screening sites, allowing us to better understand the needs of the patients we are serving.

For instance, our data demonstrated that health screening attendees at a public park compared to those screened in a healthcare setting had, on average, graded scores lower than a high-school grade reading level (p=0.008) and more individuals with marginal or inadequate health literacy (p=0.04). Those individuals in the park also had lower follow-up rates despite provision of the same resources (p=0.015). Further, of patients with a literacy barrier, only 20% followed-up.

Seeing the variance in health literacy and the impact it can have on follow-up, we investigated the reading level of the patient education materials disseminated at our screenings. The average grade-reading level was found to be 13.0, or that of a freshman in college. The National Institutes of Health recommends patient education materials be printed at or below a 6^th grade reading level¹. The remaining funds of the grant helped to cover printing costs of an informational pamphlet about head and neck cancer at a more appropriate reading level to reach a broader population. These pamphlets that provide general information about head and neck cancer is printed below a 6^th grade reading level and will be distributed at both future screening events and our head and neck cancer clinic.

We were able to identify other barriers aside from literacy that affected follow-up. Limited knowledge regarding head and neck cancer, limited access to transportation, limited access to a telephone, and being a caregiver for another individual with health needs were found to impede individuals’ abilities to seek appropriate follow-up care. For instance, half of the patients who initially were not going to make follow-up due to misconceptions regarding head and neck cancer, education following the screening motivated them to make and attend appointments.

The information we have garnered from our screenings facilitated by the AHNS Community Service Award will help us provide more appropriate patient education materials and tools to facilitate recommended follow-up at our future screening events. This experience has also facilitated important discussions and projects regarding access and patient education at our institution outside of head and neck cancer screenings.  Our next steps include incorporating patient navigators more consistently at screening events and editing our other educational materials to be at appropriate grade-reading levels.

1. National Institutes of Health. “How to Write Easy to Read Health Materials.” National Library of Medicine

The AHNS Journal Club regularly reviews the leading head and neck cancer-related journals, sharing with AHNS members some of the most relevant and important manuscripts, and providing summaries and critiques of the work. The Journal Club members are: Samer Al-Khudari, MD; Daniel Brickman, MD; Nathan Hales, MD FACS; Jason Kass, MD PhD; Luiz Kowalski, MD PhD; Vikas Mehta, MD MPH FACS; Alirio Mijares Brinez, MD; Alvaro Sanabria, PhD; Mark Varvares, MD; Vivian Wu, MD MPH.

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Versus Elective Neck Dissection for Stage I to II Oral Cavity Cancer

Cramer JD, Sridharan S, Ferris RL, Duvvuri U, Samant S.

from Laryngoscope, January 2019

Stage II Oral Tongue Cancer: Survival Impact of Adjuvant Radiation Based on Depth of Invasion

Samuel J. Rubin, Ellen B. Gurary, Muhammad M. Qureshi, Andrew R. Salama, Waleed H. Ezzat, Scharukh Jalisi, and Minh Tam Truong

from Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, January 2019

Predictors of Gastrostomy Tube Dependence in Surgically Managed Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Vivek R. Varma, MD, MBA ; Antoine Eskander, MD, ScM; Stephen Y. Kang, MD; Bhavna Kumar, MS; Nicole V. Brown, MS; Songzhu Zhao, MS; Guy Brock, PhD; Amit Agrawal, MD; Ricardo L. Carrau, MD; Matthew O. Old, MD; Enver Ozer, MD; James W. Rocco, MD, PhD; David E. Schuller, MD; Peter T. Dziegielewski, MD; Michael J. Cipolla, MD; Theodoros N. Teknos, MD

 From Laryngoscope, February 2019

Assessment of the NSQIP Surgical Risk Calculator in Predicting Microvascular Head and Neck Reconstruction Outcomes

Yue Ma, MD, Benjamin M. Laitman, MD, PhD, Vir Patel, MD, Marita Teng, MD, Eric Genden, MD, Samuel DeMaria Jr, MD, and Brett A. Miles, DDS, MD

from Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, January 2019

Lobectomy Is Feasible for 1–4 cm Papillary Thyroid Carcinomas: A 10-Year Propensity Score Matched-Pair Analysis on Recurrence

Eyun Song, Minkyu Han, Hye-Seon Oh, Won Woong Kim, Min Ji Jeon, Yu-Mi Lee, Tae Yong Kim, Ki Wook Chung, Won Bae Kim, Young Kee Shong, Suck Joon Hong, Tae-Yon Sung, and Won Gu Kim

from Thyroid, January 2019