ENT Update - Spring 2022 - University of Mississippi Medical Center

Rhinology Skills Lab Opens

A state-of-the-art Rhinology Skills Lab is now available for residents to receive hands-on cadaver and model simulation training throughout the year. This lab offers world-class rhinology and endoscopic skull base training opportunities for students, residents, attending physicians, and community physicians.

Save the Date

The Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery's Twenty-First Annual Lectureship and Resident Graduation will take place Friday, June 10, 2022.

Message from the Chair

One of the tenets of our department is constant improvement in the pursuit of excellence. It is amazing to me what has been accomplished in the 21 years that we have been a department because of this focus. Many of these accomplishments are highlighted in this newsletter: residents consistently attaining 100% board pass rates and achieving among the best performances on the annual otolaryngology training exam, record publications, faculty awards and honors, continued success in obtaining research funding placing us in the upper ranks nationally, world class training labs, and national leadership in simulation training courses.

Interesting Case

A healthy 34-year-old female presented to the UMMC Otolaryngology clinic for evaluation of bilateral hearing loss that started one month prior, and was sudden and progressive in nature. She complained of bilateral tinnitus, but denied dizziness, vertigo, otalgia, otorrhea, gait disturbance, or other motor or sensory dysfunction. She had no family history of hearing loss and denied prior ear-related or autoimmune disorders.

2021 New Residents

We are thrilled to welcome the new residents who joined us Summer 2021. They are: Dr. Jason Lee, UC San Diego School of Medicine; Dr. Brooks Lampkin, University of South Alabama College of Medicine, and Dr. Eleni Mijalis, LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport.

Alumni Spotlight

Ryan Case was born in Brookhaven, MS, and graduated from Long Beach High School. He completed a degree in Molecular Biology at USM and obtained his medical degree from UMMC School of Medicine in 2007.

In Memoriam: Thomas A. Graves, MD

1936-2022
Otolaryngologist, Mississippi Gulf Coast
Supporter of UMMC Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Residency program

Department News and Highlights

Dr. Anne Kane was awarded a Triological Society Career Development Award to be funded in the amount of $40,000.
Dr. Gina Jefferson was awarded a John C. Ruckdeschel CCRI Pilot Grant for $32,000 to support the improvement of laryngeal and lung cancer screening.
The department had its highest year ever for peer-reviewed publications, with 41 in this past fiscal year.
Ashley Grillis, Au.D., became the only certified pediatric audiologist in the state. She also served as Mississippi’s ASHA ambassador, meeting with Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith and Congressman Michael Guest to discuss bills in congress to expand hearing services and telehealth services for speech and audiology.
The Translational Auditory Physiology Lab led by Dr. Christopher Spankovich was awarded a R21 grant for $275,000 in research support from the National Institutes of Health-National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The project, titled "Ear Level Cooling for Otoprotection," will explore applications of mild therapeutic hypothermia to prevent cisplatin-induced hearing loss.
The Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education approved the UMMC Doctor of Audiology program. The program is taking applications immediately and begins in the fall semester.

Our residency program was highlighted during the annual internal review as demonstrating aspirational directorship and administration of GME Programs, the highest distinction available amongst UMMC-reviewed programs.
Our 7th Annual Regional Southern ORL Emergency Simulation Bootcamp took place August 7, 2021. This annual event provided junior ORL residents from UMMC, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, and University of Alabama at Birmingham with emergency “on-call” and basic surgical skills.
All six residents who attended the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Meeting in Los Angeles, CA, in early October were recipients of the Resident Leadership Travel grant in the amount of $500. Congratulations to Drs. Hudson Frey (PGY-5), Brian McManus (PGY-5), Cindy Moore (PGY-5), Kelsey Bounds (PGY-3), Hunter McMullen (PGY-3), and Trace Palmer (PGY-2)!
Congratulations to Chad Nieri, M4, for receiving the Dr. Godfrey Arnold Underrepresented Minority Scholarship to offset expenses during his externship with us. Nieri is in his fourth year of medical school at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine.
Resident graduates continue to have a 100% board pass rate.
Our residency program received continued accreditation from ACGME.
Our residents scored in the top 10% nationally on the Otolaryngology Inservice Training Exam.
We virtually welcomed Dr. Daniel Fink and Dr. Stacey Ishman as visiting professors in 2021. Dr. Fink is a Laryngologist and Associate Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Ishman is a Pediatric Otolaryngologist and Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Fink and Dr. Ishman each provided a lecture followed by case discussions with residents.

Spring 2022