Graduation ceremonies for the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at WashU Medicine were held June 27 at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis.
The evening’s festivities celebrated graduating chief residents Thomas Barrett, MD, Sabina Dang, MD, Daniel Lander, MD, MSCI, Amit Walia, MD, MSCI, and Stephanie Youssef, MD. Barrett and Walia were also recognized for their additional years of research fellowship.
Lindburg Professor and Chair Craig Buchman, MD, acknowledged each of the graduates, noting specific clinical and research accomplishments for the audience of faculty, residents, family and friends, which included Ogura lecturer Al Merati, MD.
Fellowship directors similarly celebrated our four graduating fellows who spent the past 1-2 years in advanced specialized surgical training. Those graduates included Sneha Giri, MD, Karolina Plonowska-Hirschfeld, MD, Miriam Smetak, MD, and Michael Wu, MD.
Read more about our graduates here:
Next steps for graduating chief residents
Surgical fellows move on to academic and private practice positions
Awards for excellence in teaching, as voted by all the residents, were also presented at the dinner:
- Stephanie Youssef, MD, received the resident teaching award, presented by Director, Resident Education Judith Lieu, MD, MSPH.
- Sid Puram, MD, PhD, received the faculty teaching award, presented by graduating chief Youssef.
R. Alex Harbison, MD, also presented the Joseph M. Chole Humanitarian Award to graduating chief resident Thomas Barrett. The award recognizes excellence in regard for others, humility of spirit, and devotion to convictions.