Our chief residents — Drs. Jacquelyn Callander, Danielle Gillard, Michael Lindeborg, Spenser Souza and Shayan Fakurnejad — are concluding their residencies at the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF OHNS). Hear about their memorable lessons and mentors at UCSF OHNS, the advice they have to offer and their future plans.
Jacquelyn Callander, MD
At UCSF, I've seen first-hand that great medicine is a team sport. The most efficient and effective teams share mutual respect, understand each person's role, and genuinely enjoy working together. Taking the time to build real relationships—with everyone from the scrub tech to the data analyst—always pays off. In both clinical care and research, real progress also demands the humility to spot gaps in your team's expertise and actively recruit people who can close them.
As residents, we are incredibly lucky to learn from the UCSF Otolaryngology faculty. I want to thank the faculty as a whole for modeling excellent patient care while prioritizing teaching—and also being great people to hang out with all day in the OR! I'm especially grateful to my rhinology and skull base mentors, Drs. Andrew Goldberg, Patricia Loftus, Steven Pletcher, Jose Gurrola and Ivan El-Sayed for their inspiration and support. My sincere thanks also go to Drs. Jolie Chang and Jennifer Grandis for their invaluable research guidance, career mentorship, and sponsorship.
I'm eager to build on my current research while carving out new niches as my career evolves. I truly feel that endotypic profiling of chronic rhinosinusitis isn't just an academic pursuit—it's the future of patient-centered therapy. My goal is to keep pushing this work forward and to ultimately bring endotyping from bench to bedside.
I'm thrilled to begin my fellowship at Stanford in Rhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery! Fellowship will offer a chance to hone surgical skills, deepen my clinical expertise and confidence, pursue new avenues of research, and cultivate new mentorships.
To the rising chief residents – make the most of every day! Just like residency as a whole, even though some days feel long, chief year will pass by quickly. Each day, try to solidify one takeaway – whether it be a surgical skill, clinical pearl, teaching tip, or leadership insight.
Danielle Gillard, MD
Part of being a consulting service means that people don't always know exactly what to ask you for a consult, but they know when they need your help. Teamwork, patience and education will help you truly take care of patients.
I'd like to thank Dr. Xu. Doing thyroids with her at SFGH was my first inclination that I wanted to pursue head and neck surgery. I was having so much fun I could not imagine my career if I was never operating in the neck again. I would also like to thank Drs. Ryan and Ha, who were very supportive of my late-in-the-game decision to pursue a head and neck fellowship. Through their support and mentorship, I was able to match into an amazing fellowship.
I am hoping to continue to work on my clinical research interests in HPV+ OPSCC and treatment de-escalation and HPV epidemiology. I also hope to continue my work in surgical ergonomics - I recently had an ergonomics program for surgeons approved at UCSF and I'll try to take it to more sites to improve musculoskeletal discomfort amongst otolaryngologists.
Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic Head and Neck Oncologic and Reconstructive Surgery, Fellowship director Brandon Prendes
I have spent my entire medical training in California, so I am excited to care for a new patient population. I hope to hone my microvascular skills, learn to become a teacher to residents and make new connections in the field of head and neck and reconstructive surgery.
Sometimes, your chief year can feel like you are dragging yourself across the finish line, but you should always remind yourself that this is your victory lap - you should work hard and learn everything you can, but don't forget to take some time and look around and be proud of yourself for everything you have accomplished.
Michael Lindeborg, MD
After five years of residency, there are truly too many memorable lessons to count. One lesson that UCSF has ingrained in me is the power of investing in others. I am fortunate to have trained amongst the best residents and faculty. Their investment in me as a trainee has inspired me to aim for the highest standards of clinical and surgical care. I've also seen how investing in my team directly enhances the quality of patient care. Whether it's teaching a surgical skill, offering support after a difficult case, or bonding during a Mission Bay team brunch, these moments of connection and mutual investment go a long way toward building a successful team and optimizing patient care.
Every member of the UCSF OHNS faculty has had a positive impact on my development as a resident. Dr. Dylan Chan and Dr. Kristina Rosbe stand out as two faculty who have been particularly formative. As exceptional mentors, they have played a pivotal role in shaping my clinical and research experiences. I hope to model their dedication and leadership in my own career.
During residency, I developed a focus on health equity and hearing loss research under the mentorship of Dr. Dylan Chan and Dr. Kristina Rosbe. I'm proud of our work that evaluated the impact of a patient navigator on delays in hearing intervention for children with newly diagnosed hearing loss and explored the cost savings and feasibility of outpatient Botox injections for sialorrhea. I aim to build upon these interests by exploring ways that these and other health system innovations can address healthcare delivery gaps for pediatric otolaryngologic care.
Next year, I will be pursuing a fellowship in pediatric otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Washington, Seattle Children's Hospital. Many of our faculty and past residents have completed their fellowship there, and the institution has trained many leaders in the field. I am most excited about the institution's world-class faculty, comprehensive clinical training, and integrated specialty care clinics.
Chief year is truly the best. It's a capstone year in which you refine your surgical skills and identity as a clinician. Lean into every moment and remember to recognize how much you've grown, both in your surgical skills and values. Be generous with your gratitude—the faculty, junior residents, APPs, scrub nurses, and circulators keep us afloat and make us look good every day. Build resilience by creating a multi-dimensional life. When residency becomes difficult, having a strong identity and supportive community outside of the hospital provides perspective and allows you to return more grounded and committed to patient care.
Spenser Souza, MD
For me, it's less a single lesson and more a lasting feeling. One of UCSF OHNS's greatest strengths — beyond training exceptional physicians — is its culture. The collegiality, the flat hierarchy, and the genuine approachability of every faculty member make UCSF an incredibly supportive and inspiring place to train. No matter where my career takes me, UCSF will remain the cultural gold standard — something I will strive to emulate and build in any future professional environment.
I've been fortunate to have many mentors who have profoundly shaped my training at UCSF. That said, I'm especially grateful to the Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Division — Drs. P. Daniel Knott and Andrea Park — for their guidance and support in preparing me for fellowship. Their mentorship played a pivotal role in helping me match at my dream program: the University of Michigan.
My research interests have flourished over the past five years, particularly in the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence in otolaryngology. I'm currently working on building an AI-based platform to objectively evaluate surgical outcomes. I plan to continue collaborating with my UCSF mentors to refine this work and develop a clinically meaningful, broadly applicable tool for the field.
I'm thrilled to be pursuing a fellowship in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. My fellowship director will be Dr. Jeffrey Moyer, and I will also be working closely with Drs. Shannon Rudy, Jeffrey Gu, Michael Brenner, and Chaz Stucken. I'm especially excited to further hone my surgical skills, take the next step toward independent practice, and serve as a clinical instructor — playing an active role in the training and development of the Michigan residents.
The incoming chief class is composed of outstanding clinicians, educators, and individuals — I probably should have asked them for advice before starting my own chief year! That said, the role of chief comes with challenges that are often unexpected. The most successful chief residents, in my experience, are those who embrace these challenges as opportunities for growth. My advice: stay open to learning and development, even when it comes in unanticipated forms.
Shayan Fakurnejad, MD
One of the many memorable lessons I am taking away from my time here at UCSF is the importance and value of teamwork. A highly functional team is not only more effective at accomplishing high-level patient care, but also way more fun!
As cliche as it sounds, I feel like all the faculty here at UCSF have mentored me in one way or another, but I would have to give a special shout-out to the FPRS division, including Drs. Knott, Seth & Park, as well as Dr. Cheung who has mentored me in my research endeavors in my final years.
My most recent research interest involving a noninvasive therapy for tissue enhancement has been very exciting, and I hope to continue this work and hopefully find new and exciting applications for this technology.
I will be headed to Philadelphia to complete a FPRS Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital with Drs. Heffelfinger, Krein, and Agarwal! I am excited to build on what I have learned during residency and refine my surgical skills!
Enjoy the year - the final year felt like it flew by faster than the rest. Oh, and with great power comes great responsibility.
Join us in congratulating our chief residents as they conclude their time at UCSF OHNS and prepare for the next step in their academic journeys!
