Having a good mentor is important to every phase of a physician’s career, but perhaps never more critical than in the earliest years out of training. Recognizing the key role that expert mentorship plays in a young physician’s success, the YPS has created the Model Mentor Award.
Any YPS member may nominate one of their mentors for this award by submitting a narrative vignette that illustrates an effective and nurturing mentorship by this physician.
Requirements:
- The nominees must be AAO-HNS members in good standing
- The nomination packet requires full contact information for both the nominee and the nominating YPS member, as well as a nominating paragraph of up to 325 words
- The YPS Governing Council will select the Model Mentor Award winners to be recognized during the YPS General Assembly at the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO Experience and will consider the winning vignettes for submission to Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
2024 YPS Model Mentor Award
This year’s Young Physicians Section (YPS) Model Mentor awardee is Rod P. Rezaee, MD. He is the director of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Reconstruction at the University Hospitals (UH) Medical Center and professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Dr. Rezaee is also the medical director of the Head and Neck Surgical Oncology unit at UH Seidman Cancer Center and serves on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Committee as the representative of Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.
After being named director of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Reconstruction, Dr. Rezaee noted, “My role as director is to make sure the necessary resources to care for patients in the community are available to our providers. However, it is vital to also maintain their presence at main campus to handle complex tertiary cases such as advanced trauma and microvascular reconstruction. In addition, we must train students, residents, and fellows, and achieve our goals of participating in quality academic research projects.”
A resident training under Dr. Rezaee shared, “He played a significant part in teaching me the foundations of head and neck surgery and patient care, my decision to pursue a fellowship in head and neck oncology and microvascular reconstruction, and my decision to return [to Case Western] as faculty. He instilled the foundations of excellent patient care that I strive to emulate in the care of my patients.”
Dr. Rezaee also serves on multiple national committees within the AAO-HNS and the American Head and Neck Society, helping to improve the surgical, reconstructive, and non-surgical care of head and neck cancer patients.
Recipients of the YPS Model Mentor Award include:
- Maurits S. Boon, MD (2023)
- Philomena M. Behar, MD (2022)
- John H. Krouse, MD, PhD, MBA (2021)
- Lawrence M. Simon, MD (2020)
- Samantha Anne, MD
- Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH
- Giancarlo F. Zuliani, MD
- James D. Sidman, MD
- J. Regan Thomas, MD
- Bill Lydiatt, MD
- Ellis M. Arjmand, MD, PhD
We thank you for your contribution to the future of the specialty.
