As our chief residents in WashU Medicine Otolaryngology look forward to graduation, we checked in to see what the next stage of their career looked like, what they considered the highlight of their training, and what advice they might offer their junior colleagues. Their responses reflect a group of highly qualified, humble and caring individuals that are destined to become leaders in otolaryngology. Please join us in congratulating them for all their accomplishments and thanking them for their many contributions!
Andrew Charap, MD
Next step: I will be moving to Philadelphia to join Penn Medicine Becker ENT & Allergy as a comprehensive otolaryngologist.
Highlight: My first cochlear implant insertion. I won’t forget the feeling of looking at their post-operative performance scores and seeing the difference I helped to make in their life.
Advice: Learn to savor tough feedback, late nights, and the times you were pushed to be better. When it’s all said and done, you will be far more grateful for the hard days than the easy days.
David Lee, MD, MSCI
Next step: I will be headed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for a fellowship in neurotology.
Highlight: The highlight of my residency has truly been building what will be lifelong relationships with my co-residents and attendings.
Advice: Anatomy will set you free! Once you know what to look for, everything starts to click. From imaging to bedside procedures to surgical planning, the earlier you lock in anatomy, the more time you’ll have to learn technique from attendings, which is what they really want to teach you.
Joseph Roh, MD
Next step: I’ll be heading to Missouri Baptist Medical Center, just up the road here in St. Louis, to join the ENT practice as a part of the Barnes Medical Group.
Highlight: The Highlight of my residency was the realization during my chief rotations that I had the skills and knowledge sufficient to teach and to lead teams. I especially realized that on difficult and heavy workload rotations like H&N that I could bring humor and spirit to our patient care and teams that I think improved what we were able to accomplish. Foundationally, this is built on the amazing training we get, but I think this shows the actualization we’re able to achieve because our clinical and surgical training is so good.
Advice: I would tell my juniors to not get too lost in the day-to-day (easy to say)! There are wins and losses and plenty of failures, but they all build to create the experience that makes you an otolaryngologist. One day you’re ruminating on what you could have done better and the next you’re a couple months from graduating, somehow competent. As long as you give it your all and work toward excellence, you’ll get through it. And to some extent – you just have to trust the process.
Javier Rincon, MD
Next step: I will be joining the South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC) in Valdosta, GA as a comprehensive otolaryngologist where I will help to build a brand-new ENT practice and help the community of southern Georgia with my Wash U ENT training.
Highlight: Wash U ENT residency training provided me with a combination of operative high-volume, hands-on surgical training across all subspecialties and a supportive culture. I was able to get a rapid progression of simple and complex surgical cases, dedicated mentorship, and strong camaraderie among peers and faculty.
Advice: Accept feedback as a gift; be patient, kind, and humble; and always persevere for your dreams. And most importantly, enjoy the journey of being trained in one of the best otolaryngology programs in the country.
Theresa Tharakan, MD, MSCI
Next step: I will be heading to University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Health System for a fellowship in head and neck surgery.
Highlight: The highlight of my residency was the moment I started to be able to walk junior residents through cases independently.
Advice: Take care of your co-residents. As you go through residency, they will save you and you will save them.