Fellowship

Bryan Hemming Endowed Fellowship in Head and Neck Cancer

University of California, San Francisco

Program Director: Patrick Ha, MD FACS
Co-Program Directors: Ivan El-Sayed, MD FACS and Daniel Knott, MD FACS
Chair of Department: Andrew Murr, MD

Address:
550 16th St, Box 3213
Mission Hall, 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94158
Phone: (415) 885-1868
Fax: (415) 885-7711
Email: [email protected]

Other Parallel Fellowships: Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Pediatric Otolaryngology
Total number of positions available per year: One

Faculty Involved in Fellowship

Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

• Jolie Chang, MD
• Ivan El-Sayed, MD
• Jonathan George, MD, MPH
• Patrick Ha, MD
• Chase Heaton, MD
• P. Daniel Knott, MD
• William Ryan, MD
• Rahul Seth, MD
• Radiation Oncology
• Sue Yom MD, PhD

Neuroradiology

• Christine Glastonbury MD
• Pathology
• Annemieke VanZante MD PhD
• Medical Oncology
• Alain Algazi, MD
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Joey McGovern Laus, MS CCC-SLP
• Sarah Schneider, MS CCC-SLP
• Erik Steele, MS CCC-SLP
• Sky Yang, MS CCC-SLP
• Cara Evans, MS CCC-SLP

School of Dentistry

• Daniel Ramos DDS Oral Medicine
• Arun Sharma DDS Maxillofacial Prosthetics
• Richard Jordan DDS PhD Oral Pathology
• Natalie Heaivilin DDS Dental Oncology
• Dermatology
• Siegrid Yu, MD
• Isaac Neuhaus, MD
• Sarah Arron, MD
• Susana Ortiz-Urda, MD

Program Descript​ion

The head and neck fellowship program at UCSF provides advanced clinical training in head and neck oncologic surgery, microvascular reconstructive surgery, open and endoscopic anterior skull base surgery, transoral robotic surgery, head and neck endocrine surgery, melanoma and cutaneous oncology, sialendoscopy, and head and neck ultrasonography.

Eligibility:

Fellows will receive an appointment of Clinical Instructor in the UCSF Dept of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and take attending staff call at UCSF and UCSF-affiliated hospitals. Applicants must be a BE/BC otolaryngologist by the fellowship start date.

Strengths:

UCSF is a tertiary referral center for complex head and neck surgery patients. Most referrals come from general otolaryngologists throughout Northern California and beyond; additional referrals are from medical oncologists, endocrinologists, dermatologists, and primary care physicians. We see more than 500 new head and neck cancer consults per year. Highlights of our previous year’s oncologic case volume include 125 salivary gland surgeries, 150 thyroid or parathyroid surgeries, 130 microvascular free flap surgeries, 30 TORS cases, and 60 anterior skull base surgeries. There is opportunity for intensive hands-on training in minimally invasive endoscopic skull base surgery (Dr. El-Sayed), microvascular free flap reconstructive surgery (Dr. Knott, Dr. Seth, Dr. Heaton), head and neck ultrasonography (Dr. George, Dr. Ryan, Dr. Heaton, Dr. Chang), and transoral robotic surgery (Dr. Ha, Dr. Ryan). Depending on interest, the fellow may attend an animal lab course in robotic surgery and an on-campus microvascular surgery workshop with rat lab. There are multiple multidisciplinary conferences including a weekly head and neck tumor board where all new head and neck cancer patients are presented, weekly melanoma tumor board, monthly thyroid cancer tumor board, and monthly visible tumor conference (for non-melanoma skin cancers). The new NCI designated UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center opened on the UCSF Mission Bay campus in February, 2015. The medical center features lasers, robotics, telemedicine systems and other state of the art technology.

Fellow Service Expectations:

The fellow will spend a cumulative total of 1 day per week in the head and neck surgery faculty clinics and 1 to 3 days per week in the OR with the head and neck surgery faculty attendings. Depending on the fellow’s interest, there is opportunity to obtain more in-depth experience with minimally invasive endoscopic skull base surgery (Dr. El-Sayed), microvascular free flap reconstructive surgery (Dr. Knott, Dr. Seth, Dr. Heaton), head and neck ultrasonography (Dr. George, Dr. Ryan, Dr. Chang, Dr. Heaton), and transoral robotic surgery (Dr. Ha, Dr. Ryan).

The fellow will take attending faculty night/weekend call for the UCSF otolaryngology-head and neck surgery service approximately 4 weeks per year. The fellow will work with the Head and Neck Surgery attendings and their patients; have responsibility for his or her own cancer patients; and actively participate in weekly tumor board, which discusses an average of 15 new patients and 30 patients total weekly. In the course of outpatient care, the fellow will acquire proficiency in ultrasonography of the head and neck. There will be the opportunity to follow selected patients through their non-operative treatment, with Medical Oncology and Radiation Oncology.

Teaching Responsibilities:

The fellow plays an instrumental role in teaching activities of the department, including a primary responsibility during the Otolaryngology resident lecture series. In addition, the fellow has responsibility similar to all faculty members to provide evidence-based teaching and discussions to medical students and residents on rounds and in the clinical and operating room settings. The fellow has primary responsibility for collecting patient data, records and imaging studies for the weekly Head and Neck Tumor Board. In addition, the fellow has teaching responsibilities associated with weekly Head and Neck Rounds, Journal Club, the head and neck cadaver dissection course, and departmental grand rounds. The fellow collaborates with the Chief Resident to organize and direct Journal Clubs related to Head and Neck Oncology.

Research:

The fellow is expected to become involved in the varied clinical research activities available within the department itself or in other programs at UCSF. It is expected that the fellow will take primary responsibility for at least one clinical research project, in collaboration with a head and neck surgery faculty mentor, which would be presented at a national meeting and lead to publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Although laboratory opportunities are also available for trainees with the appropriate background, the fellowship is primarily clinical.

Past Fellows:

• 2002-2003 Ivan El-Sayed MD, Associate Professor, UCSF
• 2003-2005 Young Oh MD, Kaiser Permanente, Anaheim, CA
• 2006-2008 Vivek Gurudutt MD, private practice, Pennsylvania
• 2009-2010 Ted Leem MD, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado
• 2010-2011 William Ryan MD, Assistant Professor, UCSF
• 2011-2012 Joshua Sckolnick MD, Palo Alto Medical Foundation/Burlingame, CA
• 2012-2013 Gabriel Tsao MD, Kaiser Permanente, Fremont, CA
• 2014-2015 Chase Heaton MD, Assistant Professor, UCSF
• 2015-2016 Daniel Flis MD MarinENT, Greenbrae, CA
• 2016-2017 Jon Mallen St. Clair MD PhD, Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles, CA
• 2017-2018 Jonathan Giurintano MD, Georgetown University, Washington DC