Austin, a second-year resident in the UBC Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, has been deeply engaged in otolaryngology research for years, beginning in medical school and continuing through his residency. A familiar face at the UBC Department of Surgery’s Chung Research Days for the past three years, Austin exemplifies dedication to both clinical excellence and innovation in the field. In this interview, he shares his journey into Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the pivotal experiences that shaped his path, and his vision for a career that blends patient care, sustainability, and cutting-edge technology.
When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue a career in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and what led you to this decision?
My interest in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) started during the Physiology of the Senses class during my undergraduate degree at Western University. My professor asked the class, “What causes dizziness?”. Having a sister with vestibular migraines, I understood the morbidity, but not the pathophysiology. The following weeks of teaching inspired my fascination for the vestibular system and its associated pathologies. This sparked my interest in OHNS, but it wasn’t until the end of my first year of medical school that I decided to pursue OHNS as a career.
This was due to the balance of medicine and surgery, the breadth of procedures, my family history, and the opportunity for innovation. OHNS allows you to manage patients both medically and surgically, providing you with the immediate results associated with surgical treatment balanced with the longitudinal care provided by medical therapy. The associated surgical procedures played a large role as well, due to the privilege we have to operate at the macroscopic, endoscopic and microscopic levels. My grandfathers both underwent these procedures, specifically head and neck reconstructive surgery. This allowed me to better understand the patient perspective and the importance of compassion in the pre and post-operative settings, further motivating me to enter this specialty. Last but not least, there is a large opportunity for innovation within OHNS which is exciting and allows me to continually utilize my curiosity to innovate, research and participate in quality improvement with the goal of improving patient care.
Beyond your medical and surgical training, what experiences and skills do you possess that you believe are transferable and enhance your abilities as a surgeon?
I personally believe that there are many overlaps between the qualities needed to succeed in athletics and surgery. Specifically, self-awareness and a drive for self-improvement. Following a football game, reflecting through each play and understanding where you went wrong and where you succeeded is essential for growing as an athlete. The same goes for surgery, as there are many techniques that enable surgeons to efficiently achieve optimal surgical outcomes. Understanding and developing these techniques requires you to reflect on your performance, address errors and create objectives for future procedures with the goal of optimizing your abilities. Furthermore, in my opinion, the self-awareness and drive for self-improvement that arose from my hockey and football careers were transferable to surgery and have greatly enhanced my ability as a surgical trainee.
Can you tell us about your involvement in any otolaryngology-related events or conferences during your residency, and how they have influenced your career path?
During my residency, I have presented at the Canadian Otolaryngology Society Meeting within the Poliquin Resident Research competition. This was a privilege, as I had the opportunity to learn about the future of Otolaryngology and the importance of creativity and strong methodology in influencing clinical practice. This learning opportunity greatly influenced my career as I have solidified career goals in medical/surgical innovation, planetary health and outreach with the overlying objective of improving patient care.
How has the culture of support within your residency program encouraged you to explore your interests in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery?
The culture of support within the UBC Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Division played an integral role in my pursuing this surgical specialty and remaining driven to achieve my sustainability, innovation, and outreach goals within residency. There have been multiple surgeons who have acted as mentors and role models for me throughout medical school and residency, all of whom are committed to helping me achieve my goals. So much so, that upon admission to the program, I was humbled to be awarded the Graham Clay Presidential Prize by the Department of Surgery in 2023. Dr. Graham Clay was a great person who was dedicated to improving the lives of his patients and forming lasting relationships with his colleagues, trainees, and patients – all things I strive for in my career. I am very lucky to have such a supportive residency program and look forward to training among such outstanding individuals.
Can you discuss your experience working with mentors and co-residents in the otolaryngology community throughout your residency?
The Otolaryngology community has been very supportive throughout my journey. Staff and residents alike have provided their opinions on preparation for residency, research, volunteering, and work-life integration. All of which has had a large impact on the resident that I have become and the career path that I have chosen. I continue to speak with mentors that I have gained, all of whom continue to help me with difficult career and life decisions. This has made my career and life journey that much more enjoyable and has greatly improved my abilities inside and outside of healthcare.
What are your future career goals in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and how do you envision your residency program contributing to achieving them?
My career goals in Otolaryngology are multifaceted, including clinical practice, sustainability, outreach, innovation, and the intersection between the four. Clinically I hope to have a balance between general ear-nose-and-throat (ENT) and a subspecialty focus as I seek to have a varied practice that serves both adults and pediatrics. I am quite passionate about helping to create a more sustainable healthcare system and I plan to continue my advocacy work through education, research, quality improvement and top-down advocacy. Achieving this goal overlaps with the need for outreach to rural and remote communities within Canada, a facet of healthcare that can be significantly improved, and I hope to be involved in the change. This change will be fueled by technological advancements including virtual care and artificial intelligence. Overall, I seek to find an intersection between these four goals such that I can efficiently achieve them whilst balancing them with my life outside of work.
I envision my residency program contributing to achieving these goals by providing me with the opportunities to explore each area. I am grateful that staff are currently supporting me in sustainability-related projects, outreach program involvement and research projects seeking to use new innovative solutions and technology to improve patient care. Lastly, I am lucky that every staff I have worked with has been committed to the improvement of my surgical and clinical acumen.
I am confident that I will graduate as a well-rounded surgeon whilst contributing to sustainable accessible healthcare through innovative solutions.
Could you share more about any recent projects or research in the field of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery that you’ve been involved in during your residency?
I’ve been involved in various projects over the last year with topics ranging from patient experience to sustainability, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. We were fortunate to publish and present our work on the pain experienced from in-office botox injections for spasmodic dysphonia which will assist clinicians in identifying patients at increased risk of procedural pain. Sustainability-wise, we explored the modelled carbon footprint reduction from the strategic integration of virtual care into the care pathways of pediatric patients with obstructive sleep apnea or otitis media with effusion. This was published and presented with the hopes of providing evidence to provincial health authorities that virtual health can be beneficial from an environmental perspective if integrated in a condition and patient-specific manner. We are currently exploring the cost-effectiveness and carbon footprint reduction associated with a multidisciplinary complex airway clinic. This is being done to encourage the use of multidisciplinary teams to improve patient care whilst making it more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable. From the virtual reality perspective, we are currently running an RCT to determine the impact of adjunctive virtual reality on vestibular rehabilitation outcomes. Lastly, I am involved in a big data study utilizing provincial health data and machine learning algorithms to better understand the barriers to care for patients seeking cochlear implants in Ontario. I am motivated to complete these remaining projects with the help of some very intelligent undergraduate and medical students, and very supportive staff.
How do you keep up with the latest advancements and techniques in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and what resources do you rely on?
Keeping up with the latest advancements and techniques in OHNS is difficult but thankfully our program does a great job in keeping the residents and staff educated. This has been done through very engaging grand rounds, otology rounds, rhinology rounds, laryngology rounds, scary airway day and the Women in Surgery in ENT (WISE) Journal Club. This in combination with academic half-day teaching, cadaver courses, visiting professor day, reading around cases and research projects has allowed me to try my absolute best to stay up to date.
Can you discuss any challenges you’ve encountered during your residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and how you’ve managed to overcome them?
The main challenge that I faced during my residency occurred during the transition at the beginning of year one. As many residents can attest to, the transition and learning curve is quite steep during your first year of residency making it difficult to achieve a balance between work and personal lives. I was fortunate to have a fiancé and mentors (staff, residents, and family/friends) who were able to give me support and advice to help me achieve a better balance. As a result, a system developed which has been very effective for me. I have described this in the next question.
How do you balance the demands of your residency program with maintaining a healthy work-life balance and engaging in personal interests or hobbies?
I have always been told that if you don’t make time for things that are important to you, no one will. As a result, my time outside of clinical hours is split between my wife/family/friends, exercise, studying and research. My time for my wife and exercise remains constant as they are what provide me with the energy needed to achieve healthy well-being and perform well in my career. The remaining time is split between studying and research, with the relative amounts shifting depending on the rotation, research deadlines and tests. Following this method allows me to maintain my relationship and physical well-being whilst continuing to improve my clinical skills/knowledge and achieving my research/quality improvement goals.
Austin’s story highlights the unique intersection of passion, mentorship, and innovation in shaping a career in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. His dedication to patient care, sustainability, and advancing the field through research is inspiring, reminding us of the transformative power of curiosity and hard work. As he continues to refine his skills and tackle ambitious projects, we look forward to seeing how Austin will contribute to the future of this dynamic specialty.