University of Kansas Medical Center 3901 Rainbow Boulevard Mail Stop 3010 Kansas City, KS  66160 Kiran Kakarala, MD FACS – Fellowship Director (913) 588-6745 Andres Bur, MD – Fellowship Co-Director Toni Holthaus – Coordinator (913) 588-6739 Program Website Videos: The DaVinci Surgical Robot Words of Inspiration by Cancer Survivor and Author Greg Cheek

Number of Fellowships: 1 Duration (in years) / Type: 1 year Faculty: David Beahm, MD – Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery Justin Bond, MD – Head and Neck Surgery Andrés Bur, MD – Head and Neck Surgery Paul Camarata, MD – Neurosurgery Sufi Thomas, PhD – Director of Basic Science Research in H&N Cancer James D. Garnett, MD – Laryngology Douglas A. Girod, MD – Head and Neck Surgery Kiran Kakarala, MD – Head and Neck Surgery Prakash Neupane, MD – Medical Oncology Christopher Lominska, MD – Radiation Oncology Yelizaveta (Lisa) Shnayder, MD – Head and Neck Surgery Jason Sokol, MD – Oculoplastic Surgery Hinrich Staecker, MD, PhD – Neuro-Otology/Skull Base Surgery Kevin Sykes, PhD, MPH – Director, Clinical Research Terance Tsue, MD – Head and Neck Surgery

 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Overview: The University of Kansas Medical Center is a 750-bed hospital with a 21 bed Neuro Intensive Care Unit and 26 bed OTO-HNS Ward. The patient accruement area includes all of Kansas and part of Western Missouri. All patients are presented prospectively at the weekly multidisciplinary head and neck oncology tumor board, to obtain a consensus opinion on treatment. This is the busiest tumor board at the medical center, with more than 450 new or recurrent head and neck cancer patients presented each year. A multidisciplinary thyroid tumor board is held monthly to discuss new and recurrent thyroid malignancy patients. A multidisciplinary melanoma tumor board is held monthly to discuss management of melanoma patients.

Objectives: The Head and Neck Fellowship is a comprehensive one year clinical fellowship, encompassing a full spectrum of Head and Neck Oncology, interdisciplinary management of head and neck cancer patients, with clinical and translational research involvement.

Clinical focus includes:

• Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery
• Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery
• Skull Base Surgery (anterior & lateral), including endoscopic approaches to the skull base
• Minimally Invasive Endocrine Surgery
• Transoral Laser Surgery of Larynx and Oropharynx
• Transoral Robotic Surgery using Da Vinci technology
• Multidisciplinary management of skin cancers, including melanoma, and sentinel lymph node biopsy

Strengths: Our high clinical volume program creates an ideal combination of supervision and autonomy, preparing fellows for an independent career in academic Head and Neck Surgery and microvascular reconstruction. Strengths of the training program include:

• Microvascular animal laboratory dissection course to be completed at the beginning of the fellowship
• Training in Transoral Robotic surgery for benign and early malignant tumors of the oropharynx and larynx utilizing Da Vinci technology
• “Introduction to Clinical Research” course, which is administered by the School of Medicine and runs from August to December. This course is free to faculty and fellows, and may be taken for a grade or a certificate. A certificate is given after completing a research proposal, written as a short version of a grant proposal.
• Multiple conferences including intra-departmental Grand Rounds/teaching conferences, annual three-day winter retreat CME meeting in Copper Mountain, Colorado, basic and advanced AO courses on principles of maxillofacial trauma and reconstruction, two-day endoscopic thyroid dissection course and annual alumni day research conference.
• One day a week will be devoted to elective time in the morning and research time in the afternoon. The Fellow will complete electives in Nuclear Medicine, Radiation Oncology, Medical Oncology and Head and Neck Radiology.
• Kevin Sykes, PhD, MPH, Director of Clinical Research at the Department of Otolaryngology, is a great resource for the H&N Fellow in terms of help with IRB submission, statistical analysis, clinical trial design and administration, getting started with new study protocols as well as preparing poster and oral scientific presentations.
• Sufi Thomas, PhD, Director of Basic Science and Translational Research, is a wonderful resource for the H&N Fellow.
• Opportunity for the Fellow to participate in one medical mission trip in a developing country, with KUMC Otolaryngology faculty and residents.

Eligibility: Admission to the fellowship is contingent upon completion of one of the ACGME-approved residencies in Otolaryngology, Plastic Surgery or General Surgery and eligibility to sit for board examination in applicant’s respective specialty. All applicants must be eligible for a medical license in the state of Kansas.

Fellows’ Duties/Responsibilities: The Head and Neck Fellow will be appointed as a Clinical Instructor at the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. The Fellow is expected to be involved as a primary or assisting surgeon in all microvascular reconstructive cases as well as transoral robotic resections and skull base cases. The fellow will follow the pre-operative as well as post-operative course of at least 200 head and neck cancer patients. The patients will be discussed with the attending physician in a manner to maximize a teaching experience for the Fellow, while encouraging increasing autonomy and responsibility.

The Fellow will also have didactic teaching responsibilities including Summer Head and Neck Anatomy Course, resident/medical student lectures, and at least one major Grand Rounds presentation as well as a research presentation at the Alumni Day in June. He/she will be expected to act as a teaching physician to a resident during the more straightforward part of a complex head and neck resection, or routine cases such as uncomplicated neck dissections, thyroidectomies, glossectomies or parotidectomies.

The Head and Neck Fellow will attend the “Introduction to Clinical Research” course at the School of Medicine. The Fellow is expected to complete a research project to be presented at a national meeting as well as submitted for publication.

Research Opportunities: The Fellow is expected to complete a research project to be presented at a national meeting as well as submitted for publication. We hold bi-weekly Head and Neck department research meetings which provide ample opportunity to participate in research.

Supervision, Teaching & Call: The Fellow will also have didactic teaching responsibilities resident/medical student lectures, and at least one major Grand Rounds presentation as well as a research presentation at the Alumni Day in June. He/she will be expected to act as a teaching physician to a resident during the more straightforward part of a complex head and neck resection, or routine cases such as uncomplicated neck dissections, thyroidectomies, glossectomies or parotidectomies.

PAST FELLOWS

• Jeffrey Jorgensen (2009) is an academic Head and Neck/Microvascular surgeon at the University of Missouri/Columbia Department of Otolaryngology.
• Konstantinos Kourelis (2010) has also completed an advanced fellowship in endoscopic/skull base surgery in Baltimore, MD. He returned to Patras, Greece to practice Head and Neck Surgery.
• Mark Furin (2011) returned to his position of Chief of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Kaiser Permanente Northwest in Portland, Oregon.
• Yogesh More (2012) is a Head and Neck/Microvascular surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, Abu Dhabi.
• Issam Eid (2013) is an academic Head and Neck/Microvascular surgeon at the University of Mississippi at Jackson Department of Otolaryngology.
• Levi G. Ledgerwood (2014) is a Head and Neck/Microvascular surgeon at Kaiser Permanente in Sacramento, California.
• Michael Deutschmann (2015) is a Head and Neck Surgeon with Alberta Health Services, Calgary in Canada.
• Marco Ayala (2016) is a Head and Neck Oncology and Microvascular Reconstruction Surgeon at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, VA.
• Thomas O’Toole (2017) is a Head and Neck Surgeon with Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI.
• Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim (2018) is a Head and Neck Fellow at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.